Box Score Southern Maine Upsets #4 UMass Boston 5-2
BOSTON -- Junior Kyle Shapiro (Ocean, N.J.) stopped 48 shots and classmate Brett Norman (Dawson Creek, B.C.) dished out four assists as the University of Southern Maine Huskies upset the fourth-ranked University of Massachusetts Beacons 5-2 in a New England Hockey Conference game Saturday at the Edward T. Barry Ice Rink.
The win snapped a two-game losing skid for the Huskies and got them back to the .500 mark at 3-3-0 overall (2-3-0 in NEHC play). It was the Huskies' first win over the Beacons after seven straight setbacks since their last win on February 10, 2013. The Beacons have lost two of their last three games and are now 4-2-0 overall (2-2-0 in NEHC).
Rookie AJ Johnson (Newton, Mass.) had two goals for the Huskies, and senior Cole Klippenstein (Franklin, Tenn.) had a goal and an assist. Rookies Brendan Murphy (St. Peters, Mo.) and Cody Braga (Middleboro, Mass.) scored the other USM goals.
The Beacons came out flying in the opening period outshooting the Huskies 20-4, but it would be Johnson who would find the net for his first collegiate goal converting a set-up from Norman and rookie Tristan Dundas (Abbotsford, B.C.) at 15:38. Shapiro stopped everything to backstop the Huskies to a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes.
Klippenstein added a power-play goal early in the second period assisted by Norman. Murphy added a 5-on-3 power-play goal from Norman and Klippenstein to increase the Huskies lead to 3-0. Shapiro was perfect again stopping all 15 UMB shots.
Braga's unassisted power play goal, the Huskies third power-play goal of the game, at 2:32 of the third period made it 4-0.
The Beacons finally solved Shapiro when sophomore Drew Gannon (Plano, Texas) lit the lamp for a power-play goal at 6:16. Johnson quickly swung the momentum back to the Huskies tallying his second goal of the game, assisted by Norman, 46 seconds later to restore the Huskies' four-goal advantage. Sophomore Bryan Carter (Hudson, Mass.) got the Beacons second goal at 7:37 as the teams combined for three goals in a span of 1:21.
UMB used two goalies in the game. Rookie Jordan Bustard (Flanders, N.J.) played the opening two periods making six saves. Sophomore Jake Kahler (Rome, N.Y.) recorded one save in the third period. Shapiro made 14 more saves in third period before being dismissed from the game. Rookie Paul Léger (Blainville, Quebec) had one save in the final 22 seconds.
Despite being outshot 51-12, the Huskies converted on 3 of 6 power-play opportunities while holding the Beacons to only one power-play marker on eight opportunities.
Southern Maine will be in action again on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) playing a non-conference game at Salem State University. UMass Boston travels to Utica College on Friday (7:00 p.m.).
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