GORHAM, Maine – Austin Marini (Hyde Park, Mass./Catholic Memorial) scored the game-winner two minutes into overtime to lead the University of Southern Maine Huskies over the Castleton University Spartans 2-1 in the first round of the New England Hockey Conference Playoffs on Wednesday night in Gorham. With the win, the Huskies advance to the quarterfinals of the NEHC playoffs and will face Hobart College on Saturday, February 19 at 4pm.

When and Where: Wednesday, February 16, 2022 – University of Southern Maine – USM Ice Arena

Score: Southern Maine 2, Castleton 1

History: This was the 29th meeting between the two programs. The Spartans now lead the series 15-12-2

The Records: Southern Maine: 8-13-1, 6-10-1 NEHC; Castleton: 5-19-2, 1-16-2

The Goaltenders: Kyle Penton (Waltham, Mass./Albany Academy): 37 saves, .974 save percentage; Kyle Alaverdy (Grand Falls-Windsor, N.D.): 37 saves, .949 save percentage.

Stars of the Game:
1st star: Penton- 37 saves, .974 save percentage, first career playoff win
2nd star: Marini- game-winning overtime goal
3rd star: Cole Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine/Lewiston)- one goal

How It Happened/Inside the Box Score: 
-In a must-win situation, the Huskies came onto the ice with a fighting spirit right out of the gate. Ouellette set the tone for the game early when he scored his second goal of the season, taking a pass from Tyler Mitchell (Burlington, ON/Pomfret School) behind the net and putting the Huskies up 1-0 in the first period.

-The rest of the first period and the first eleven minutes of the second period were skated evenly until Castleton found an equalizer. On a breakaway two-on-one, Nicolas Garneau (Blainville, QC) found Romeo Torain (New York, N.Y.), who slipped the puck past a diving Penton to tie the game.

-The third period saw a combined 19 shots on goal, all of which were stopped by Penton and Alaverdy.

-Tyler Gardiner (Watertown, Mass./Watertown) took the puck down the ice early in overtime before dumping it off to Marini who put in the game-winner, sending the Huskies to the quarterfinals of the NEHC playoffs.

-There was only one power play opportunity all game between the two teams. When Castleton had the advantage, the Huskies were able to kill the penalty and improve their power play kill percentage to 76.6% on the season.

Up Next: The Huskies will travel to Hobart College for a New England Hockey Conference Tournament quarterfinal game on Saturday, February 19th at 4pm.