Huskies at Skidmore and Castleton Next Weekend

            GORHAM, Maine -- Freshman Alex Pantalone (Hudson, Mass.) snapped a 1-1 tie with 6:25 left in regulation to give the University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey team a 2-1 victory over visiting Saint Anselm College Saturday in an ECAC Men's East game at the USM Ice Arena.

            The win was the Huskies first in league play this season, and lifts their record to 3-11-0 overall and 1-8-0 in league play.  The Hawks, bidding to get back to .500 for the first time since November, slipped to 5-7-1 overall and 4-4-1 in conference play.

            With time winding down in the third period, Pantalone took a pass from junior Chad O'Brien (Johnstown, Penn.) at the Saint Anselm blue line, held the puck looking to make a play, then fired a dart into the top left corner past Saint Anselm rookie goaltender Shane Joyce (Pembroke, Mass.) for his third goal of the season.  USM rookie Nick Cota (Bangor, Maine) picked up the second assist.

            The Huskies preserved the lead over the final six minutes, helped by a power play that ate two minutes off the clock.  The Hawks were able to get Joyce off in favor of the extra skater, but the Huskies did not give up a shot on goal over the final 54 seconds.

            The visitors scored the only goal of the opening frame as senior Sean Jenkins (Boston, Mass.) converted a 2-on-1 from junior Bryan Sullivan (Burlington, Mass.).  Sullivan carried the puck in along the right wing side before laying a perfect pass across to Jenkins who buried the shot.

            Southern Maine got the equalizer in the middle period when senior co-captain Stephen Gallo (Barnstead, N.H.) fired a wrist shot into the top of the net.  Junior Zach Dymock (Dutton, Ont.) and sophomore Todd Bannerman (Georgetown, Ont.) earned the assists on the play.

            USM rookie goalie Kyle Shapiro (Ocean, N.J.) stopped 21 Saint Anselm shots, including 10 in the final period, to pick up his third win of the season.  Joyce had 18 saves before being lifted for the extra attacker.

            Southern Maine hits the road next weekend for ECAC Men's East games at Skidmore College on Friday (7:00 p.m.) and Castleton State College on Saturday (4:00 p.m.).  Saint Anselm will host Connecticut College on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) in a non-conference match-up. 

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