GORHAM, Maine – Freshman goaltender Josh Hillegas (Middleton, Wis.) stopped 29 shots and five different players scored goals as the University of Southern Maine Huskies held off the Skidmore College Thoroughbreds for a 5-3 victory in ECAC Men's East action Saturday afternoon at the USM Ice Arena.

            The win evens the Huskies record at 1-1 overall and in league play.  The Thoroughbreds fall to 1-1 overall and in ECAC games.

            Southern Maine built a 5-0 lead after two periods on the strength of a four-goal second period.  Skidmore climbed back into the game with three goals outshooting USM 16-5 in the final period.  Hillegas was steady under pressure making 13 saves in the period.

            Junior Angelo Vrachnas (St. James, N.Y.) gave the Huskies the lead at 15:52 of the opening period tipping home a shot from freshman Alex Pompeo (Hingham, Mass.) for the first of two power-play goals in the game for the Huskies.

            Senior Matt MacDonald (Byfield, Mass.) doubled the Huskies advantage at 9:17 of the second period to spark a string of goals.  Freshman Jeremy Griffin (Roswell, Ga.) converted a Thoroughbred turnover into his first collegiate goal at 10:39, and classmate Ryan Connors (Marshfield, Mass.) made it 4-0 at 11:43.  Before the period ended, sophomore Stephen Gallo (Barnstead, N.H.) finished off a pretty passing play with his first goal of the season.

            Skidmore, which won its season opener Friday night against the University of New England 9-4, came out strong in the third period.  Sophomore Erik Nilsson (Stockholm, Sweden) tallied a power-play marker at 2:00, and senior Brendan Cottam (Belmont, Mass.) added a second power-play goal at 9:33.  Sophomore T.J. Schneider (Sound Beach, N.Y.) made things interesting with his goal at 16:40 to cut the margin to 5-3.

            The Thoroughbreds pulled sophomore goaltender Brad Cray (Raleigh, N.C.) in favor of the extra attacker with 1:10 top play, but Hillegas and the Huskies defense held the fort.

            Vrachnas had a two-point game as he picked up an assist on the MacDonald goal, and rookie Garrett White (Wakefield, Mass.) earned two assists for USM.

            Cottam also had an assist for the Thoroughbreds, and rookie Jack Even (Wethersfield, Conn.) collected two assists.  Cray, who came on in relief of starting goalie Spencer Sodokoff (Greenwich, Conn.) in the second period, posted six saves in 27:07 of play before being lifted.  Sodokoff recorded 13 saves and took the loss.

            Southern Maine is back in action on Friday (7:00 p.m.) when it travels to Norwich University.  Skidmore will play its home opener next Friday (7:00 p.m.) hosting New England College.