Maine Splits Home Opener Against Quinnipiac

The Maine Black Bears split their home-opening series against the Quinnipiac Bobcats this weekend in Orono. After dropping Friday night’s opener 2-1, Maine bounced back with a 5-3 victory on Saturday to earn a split.

Maine entered the weekend with an 11-12-2 all-time record against Quinnipiac. The Black Bears struggled to capitalize on their chances in the opener despite outshooting the Bobcats, but their offense broke through on Saturday to hand Quinnipiac its first loss of the season.

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Quinnipiac Takes Friday’s Opener

All the scoring in Friday night’s matchup occurred during the opening period. Lee Parks got Maine off to a strong start, scoring just over two and a half minutes into the game to give the Black Bears a 1-0 lead.

However, Quinnipiac responded just over two minutes later when Mason Marcellus found the back of the net to tie the game. The Bobcats then took their first lead just over halfway through the period as Ethan Wyttenbach scored to make it 2-1.

That proved to be the game-winning goal. Quinnipiac also had a goal taken off the board, but the Bobcats maintained their advantage for the remainder of the contest.

Maine generated plenty of opportunities, outshooting Quinnipiac 34-22. Christian Kirsch delivered a strong performance in net, stopping 33 of 34 shots to secure the victory. Albin Bojia took the loss for Maine after stopping 20 of the 22 shots he faced.

Despite the lopsided shot advantage, the Black Bears couldn’t find the equalizer and opened their home schedule with a loss.

Maine Bounces Back With Five Goals on Saturday

Maine responded on Saturday with a much-needed offensive performance, scoring five goals to earn a 5-3 victory.

For the second consecutive night, the Black Bears opened the scoring. Loic Usereau found the back of the net just under eight minutes into the first period. Quinnipiac answered shortly afterward when Jack Stockfish tied the game at 1-1.

Maine regained the lead on the power play as Samuel Alfano scored with Alex Kostov serving a five-minute charging penalty. 

Quinnipiac responded again after the penalty expired, with Jan Golic tying the game at 2-2.

The Bobcats took their first lead of Saturday’s contest just over a minute into the second period when Marcellus scored his second goal of the weekend.

Maine answered quickly. Isa Parekh tied the game two minutes later before Parks scored three minutes afterward to give the Black Bears a 4-3 advantage.

The Black Bears protected their lead throughout the third period before Sully Scholle added an empty-net goal on the power play to secure the 5-3 victory.

Maine outshot Quinnipiac 29-23. Bojia bounced back from Friday’s loss by stopping 20 of 23 shots, while Roark Applebee stopped 24 of 28 shots in the loss for the Bobcats.

Next Up

The Black Bears will return on October 23 when Colgate visits Orono. Maine will look to build on Saturday’s offensive performance.

Quinnipiac will return to the ice Friday against Penn State after suffering its first loss of the season.