GORHAM, Maine – Senior Nolan McElhaney (Natick, Mass./Long Island University) recorded the first hat trick of his career to power the University of Southern Maine Huskies to a 7-4 win over the Vermont State University Castleton Spartans on Saturday. Huskies' freshman Matt Sullivan (Hingham, Mass./New Hampton School) also scored two goals and had an assist. Senior Cole Ouellette (Lewiston, Maine), junior Jeff Pollara (Braintree, Mass.), junior Mathieu Sabourin (Alexandria, Ontario) and senior Austin Marini (Hyde Park, Mass./Catholic Memorial) each contributed two assists for the Huskies.
 
The Records:
VTSU Castleton: 4-7-0 (2-4-0 NEHC)
Southern Maine: 4-5-1 (2-4-1 NEHC)
 
 
Series History:
Castleton and Southern Maine have now played 34 times with the Spartans leading 19-13-2.
 
The Goaltenders:
VTSU Castleton: Simon Brenter (1-2-0), 9:40, four goals allowed, one save.
VTSU Castleton: Josh Ward, 50:20, three goals allowed, 15 saves
Southern Maine: Kyle Penton (3-2-0), 60:00, four goals allowed, 30 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Sullivan set the tone for the Huskies by scoring 29 seconds into the action. Following a faceoff win by Sabourin Sullivan took a loose puck and cruised down the ice before blasting a shot wide of the net. His shot ricocheted off the boards back towards the goaltender's skates and ended up in the net.
• McElhaney scored twice in the span of 3:06 to give the Huskies a 3-0 lead. His first goal came on the power-play with Sullivan and Marini assisting. Sabourin and Ouellette had assists on his second goal which came on a four-on-four situation. After the Huskies' penalty expired, sophomore Cole Brennan (Sussex, N.J./ Pomfret School) scored the second goal of his career to make the score 4-0. Pollara and sophomore Kadin Ilott (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary School) made the passes to set up Brennan's goal.
• After surrendering four goals on five shots, Brenter was lifted for Ward. Ward then stopped the only shot he faced in the remainder of the period.
• Sullivan scored for the second time 1:43 into the second period with Ouelltte and Marini having assists.
• Castleton scored three consecutive goals to cut the lead to 5-3 with less than four minutes left in the second period. Cam Reid scored the first to spoil the shutout and Bryce Irwin netted the next two with assists from Josef Vyvial and Andrew Stefura on each goal.
• McElhaney completed the hat trick by ripping a shot past Ward after sophomore Elliot Van Orsdel (Eveleth, Minn./ Eveleth-Gilbert) drew the puck back to him off a faceoff with three seconds left in the period.
• The Huskies added a seventh goal in the third period from sophomore Jakub Suran (Liberec, Czech Republic). Pollara and freshman Marcus Torgner (Mjolby, Sweden) provided the assists.
• Castleton got one last goal from Jackson Edwards in the final minute of play.

 
Inside The Stats:

• McElhaney's hat trick is the first by a Husky since January 27, 2023 when Curtis Judd (Newton, Mass./Albany Academy) had one against Skidmore. He now had a team-leading eight goals on the season.
• Seven goals ties the Huskies' season-high from their 7-2 win over Salem State on November 21.
• The Huskies went 2-for-3 on the power-play while Castleton could not score on any of their four opportunities.
• Graduate student Nick Ritmo (Niskayuna, N.Y.) paced the Huskies in blocked shots with three while McElhaney, Suran and Brennan each had two.
• The Huskies went 37-for-66 in faceoffs with sophomore Conor Donovan (Nahant, Mass./Swampscott) and Van Orsdel leading the way.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies will host Suffolk University next Friday night at 7:00 pm. The team USM Student Government Association Student Body President's Office will be holding a Teddy Bear Toss where fans are invited to throw stuffed animals onto the ice following the first goal of the game. Bears will be provided to the first 200 fans in attendance and fans are also encouraged to bring their own.