GORHAM, Maine -- Sophomore goalie Braely Torris (Eckville, Alberta) stopped all 20 shots he faced as the University of Southern Maine Huskies shut out the Colby College Mules, 3-0, in a non-conference men's ice hockey game Tuesday night at the USM Ice Arena.

            The win lifts the Huskies back up to the .500 mark at 5-5-2 overall.  The Huskies, who avenged a 7-4 loss to the Mules in November, are 4-1-2 in their last seven games after a 1-4-0 start.  The Mules lost their third straight game to slip to 3-9-0 overall.

            Torris provided the Huskies with steady goaltending throughout the game to earn his second shutout of the season, and the fourth of his career.  It was the second time in his career that Torris has blanked the Mules at home.

            Freshmen line mates Brad McGovern (Haverhill, Mass.) and Ben Pearl (Essex Jct., Vt.) each had a goal and an assist for the Huskies.  The third member of the line, junior Matt MacDonald (Byfield, Mass.) had a pair of assists.  Sophomore Jamie Osborne (Grand Lake, Nova Scotia) potted an empty-net goal late in the third period for his first collegiate goal.

            Freshman Nathan Jordan (Upper Saddle River, N.J.) made his first collegiate start in goal for Colby.  The rookie goaltender stopped 17 of 19 shots before being lifted with 2:09 to play in favorite of the extra attacker.

            The teams skated through a defensive-minded first period without any scoring and the Mules having a slim, 7-6 edge in shots on goal.

            In the middle period, the Mules had an apparent goal from senior Mike Doherty (Lynnfield, Mass.) waved off as the net had been dislodged before the puck went in.

            McGovern finally broke the scoreless tie with 14 seconds left in the period knocking home the rebound of his own shot.  Jordan stopped McGovern's initial shot from 25 feet out, but the rebound went back out to McGovern who deposited his second shot inside the right post.

            Pearl gave the Huskies an insurance marker at 9:49 of the third period as he ripped a wrist shot over Jordan's shoulder from deep in the left wing faceoff circle.  With Jordan out of the net, Osborne took a pass from sophomore Mike Greene (Arvada, Colo.), skated into the Colby zone and slid the puck into the empty net.

            Southern Maine returns to ECAC Men's East play this weekend traveling to Saint Anselm College on Friday (7:00 p.m.) and New England College on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).  Colby travels to Connecticut to play NESCAC contests at Trinity College on Friday (7:00 p.m.) and Wesleyan University on Saturday (3:00 p.m.).

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