GORHAM, Maine -- Senior Angelo Vrachnas (St. James, N.Y.) scored his third goal of the game 49 second into overtime to give the University of Southern Maine Huskies a 6-5, come-from-behind victory over the visiting Salem State University Vikings in non-conference men's ice hockey action Tuesday night at the USM Ice Arena.

            The win was the second straight for the Huskies and improved their overall mark to 4-3-0.  The Vikings slip to 3-3-0.

            In overtime, Vrachnas picked up the puck from junior Ryan Seward (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) at the red line and skated down the left side before ripping a 30-foot shot past Salem State senior goalie Ryan Sutliffe (Las Vegas, Nev.) for his fourth goal of the season.  The goal capped off the Huskies' comeback from a pair of three-goal deficits (4-1 and 5-2) in the second period.

            Vrachnas had the lone goal of the third period to force the game into overtime.  The senior winger took a pass from freshman Kelby Lorenz (Mississauga, Ont.) in the high slot and beat Sutliffe for a power-play goal at 13:33.  Seward picked up the second assist on the play.

            In a fast-paced first period, Salem State scored the only goal when freshman John Needham (Medford, Mass.) tallied the first of his two goals in the game beating USM rookie netminder Dylan Wells (Nashville, Tenn.) from the top of the left wing faceoff circle with a shot inside the far post.

            The teams combined for eight goals and 30 shots on goal in a wild second period.  USM tied the game on sophomore Pier-Michel Lapointe's (St. Georges, Que.) second goal of the season at 4:27.  Salem State responded with three straight goals in a span of 3:08.  Junior Cameron Banwell (Toronto, Ont.), rookie Tanner Fahlstedt (Centennial, Colo.) and senior Eric Defelice (Chalfont, Pa.) all lit the lamp to give the Vikings a 4-1 lead at 8:47.

            Lorenz got one back for the Huskies at 10:47 before Needham tallied his second of the night at 12:07 to make it 5-2.  From there, Wells slammed the door on the Vikings' offense and kept his team in contention.

            Junior Lorne Miller (Montreal, Que.) began the USM comeback at 15:05 with his first goal of the season, and Vrachnas got his first of the night at 19:07 to make it a one-goal game.

            Lorenz had a three-point night with his goal and two helpers.  Seward and rookie forwards Todd Bannerman (Georgetown, Ont.) and Sam Blanchet (Laurier-Station, Que.) had two assists apiece.  Fahlstedt had a two-point game with a goal and an assist while freshman Alex Minter (Peabody, Mass.) chipped in two assists.

            Wells finished the night making 29 saves while Sutliffe stopped 30 shots at the other end.

            Southern Maine is off until December 6 when they host nationally ranked Babson College in an ECAC Men's East game.  Salem State entertains Connecticut College on Sunday (4:00 p.m.) for a non-conference game. 

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