DANBURY, Conn. – Freshman Jordan Bezio (North Hampton, N.H.) scored twice and had an assist in first period for the University of Southern Maine Huskies' men's ice hockey team as the Huskies put up four goals in the opening frame on their way to a 7-3 win over the Western Connecticut State University Wolves for the first Little East Conference win in program history.
 
Freshman Nick Vinson (Brewer, Maine) recorded the first points of his career with two assists. Sophomore Gavin Simopoulos (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) scored twice for the first multiple-goal game of his career. Junior Kayde Kinaschuk (Calgary, Alberta), senior Kadin Ilott (Kenora, Ontario/Beaver Brae Secondary School), and senior Cole Brennan (Sussex, N.J./ Pomfret School) also notched goals for Southern Maine.
 
Freshman goalie Loci Morin (Drummondville, Quebec) made 17 saves to earn the win for the Huskies. Liam Lane allowed five goals for the Wolves to take the loss.
 
The Records:
Southern Maine: 2-1-0 (1-0-0 LEC)
WestConn: 0-3-0 (0-1-0 LEC)
 
Series History:
Today's game was the first ever between the two programs as it is the first season of WestConn's hockey team.
 
The Goaltenders:
Southern Maine: Loic Morin (2-1-0): 60:00, three goals allowed, 17 saves
WestConn: Liam Lane (0-2-0), 40:00, five goals allowed, 20 saves
WestConn: Dylan Dewachter: 20:00, two goals allowed, 10 saves
 
How It Happened:

• Bezio's first goal came 6:36 into the opening period with Vinson assisting. Bezio then made a heads-up play to keep the puck in the offensive zone and set up Kinaschuk for a shot that found its way into the net about halfway through the period. Freshman Cam Gwatkin (Lyndonville, Vt./Proctor Academy) was also credited with an assist.
• Bezio then picked up a second goal by driving home the rebound of a shot by Grondin with Vinson assisting once again.
• Ilott made the score 4-0 with just over a minute left in the first period with a blast from the point after junior Ethan MacDuff (Lloydminster, Alberta) passed the puck back to junior Adrian Jubran (Knoxville, Tenn./James Madison) on the faceoff. The goal is the first power play score for the Huskies this season.
• WestConn finally broke through 10:54 into the second period when Luca Maiuri from Victor-Antoine Fortier and Matthew Donegan. The Wolves cut the lead to 4-2 after an unfortunate bounce off the boards gave Scott McNulty the puck with an open net with just under seven minutes left in the period. However, the Huskies answered with a blast from Brennan that was assisted by sophomore Hunter Svicki (Toronto, Ontario) and senior Conor Donovan (Nahant, Mass./Swampscott). The point is Svicki's first as a Husky.
• Simopoulos took advantage of a misplayed puck by the Wolves in the first minute of third period to make it 6-2. Each side then added another goal as the Wolves had a score from Fortier that was answered a minute later by another Simopolus score. The final goal for the Huskies was assisted by junior Owen Drummey (Falmouth, Maine) and freshman Ben Aucoin (Moncton, New Brunswick).

 
Inside The Stats:

• Southern Maine led 37-20 in shots on goal.
• The Wolves had a 40-32 advantage in faceoff wins.
• The game featured 11 total penalties with Southern Maine committing five and WestConn committing six. The Huskies went 1-for-3 on the power play while WestConn was 0-for-2.

 
Up Next:
The Huskies play Keene State tomorrow at 3:30 pm in Keene, N.H.