GORHAM, Maine – The University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey team opened the 2023-24 season in dominant fashion with a 5-0 victory over Saint Anselm College on Tuesday night in Gorham. Five different Huskies scored goals and junior goaltender Mason Palmer (Cumming, Ga./Georgia Connections Academy) made 17 saves in the shutout. The win is the first for the Huskies under head coach Matt Pinchevsky.
 
The Records:
Saint Anselm: 0-3-0
Southern Maine: 1-0
 
Series History:
The two teams have now played 35 times with Saint Anselm leading 18-12-5.
 
The Goaltender:
Saint Anselm: Cam Carroll (0-3-0), 60:00, five goals allowed, 19 saves
Southern Maine: Mason Palmer (1-0-0), 60:00, shutout, 17 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Southern Maine freshman Matt Sullivan (Hingham, Mass./New Hampton School) netted the first goal of the season 7:11 into the first period. The goal was also the first of his career. Sophomores Jakub Suran (Liberec, Czech Republic) and Kadin Ilott (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary School) had the assists.
• The Huskies scored twice in the second period with junior Azam Jiwa (Calgary, Alberta/West Island College) and senior Austin Marini (Hyde Park, Mass./Catholic Memorial) scoring back-to-back goals in less than 30 seconds to make the lead 3-0.
• The Huskies scored two more goals in the third period. Junior Jeff Pollara (Braintree, Mass.) scored on a 5-3 opportunity and senior Curtis Judd (Newton, Mass./Albany Academy) scored his first goal of the season.

Inside The Stats:

• Judd and Suran each had two assists.
• Freshman Ethan MacDuff (Lloydminster, Alberta) recorded the first assist of his career on Marini's tally.
• Senior Nolan McElhaney (Natick, Mass./Long Island University), junior Mathieu Sabourin (Alexandria, Ontario) and Marini also had assists.
• Palmer posted the first shutout of his career with his 17-save performance.
• The Huskies led in faceoffs 33-26.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will play again on Friday at Babson College in their first New England Hockey Conference game of the season.