Southern Maine Ties with New England College 1-1

            HENNIKER, N.H. -- Freshman goalie Matt Michals (Needham, Mass.) made 32 saves in his second career start to backstop the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 1-1 overtime tie against the New England College Pilgrims in an ECAC Men's East game Saturday at Lee Clement Arena.

            The tie leaves the Huskies with a 5-18-1 overall record and a 2-14-1 mark in league play with one game to play.  The Pilgrims closed the regular season with a 9-11-5 mark overall and a 6-9-3 record in the league.

            Michals only surrendered a second-period goal to rookie Joe Osaka (Tokyo, Japan) while facing 33 shots.  He made 11 saves in the third period and one in the overtime to preserve the tie.

            Southern Maine grabbed a 1-0 lead at 14:03 of the first period when rookie Patrick Magliano (Pelham, N.H.) scored his first career goal from senior Sam Guimond (Portland, Maine) and sophomore Todd Bannerman (Georgetown, Ont.).

            Southern Maine had a golden opportunity to double its lead late in the first period when it was awarded a penalty shot.  Freshman Brett Norman (Dawson Creek, B.C.) made the attempt against NEC sophomore goalie Brett Kilar (Coto de Caza, Calif.), but was foiled.  Kilar registered 23 saves for the game.

            Osaka netted a power-play goal at 14:36 of the second period, converting from juniors Kyle Manlow (Murretta, Calif.) and Cheyne Matheson (Wheatley, Ont.).  The goal was the fifth of the season for Osaka.

            Southern Maine has a make-up game on Monday (5:00 p.m.) at Castleton State College.  New England College will be the sixth seed for the upcoming ECAC Men's East tournament.

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