ORONO, Maine — December 8, 2013 was the last time that the Riverhawks left Orono with a loss, but Maine senior Blaine Byron was not going to to allow that streak to continue.
Thirty-seven seconds into the first period, Byron put his first goal of the night past UMass-Lowell goalie Tyler Wall, trickling a shot between the goaltender’s legs. A few minutes later, with 7:44 gone in the first, Byron retaliated for a goal scored by Gage Hough to tie it up, with a shot that went right by Wall’s glove.
“The puck just kind of bounced out to the slot,” Byron said, following the Bears 5-2 victory over the fifth-ranked Riverhawks. “I knew I had a second to shoot it, and it found a way in there.”
Maine coach Red Gendron was certainly encouraged by the effort his team put forth on the ice. Byron put his third, and final, goal in the back of an empty net at the 18:16 mark of the third period, effectively putting the game out of reach for the visitors.
“We played well the entire game,” Gendron said. “There were moments where mistakes were made, like any hockey game, but we never allowed it to snowball. It was very encouraging.”
Byron, a captain from Manotick, Ont., agreed.
“I thought we played a good, full 60 minutes,” Byron said. “Made them play our game, and came away with the two points.”
“We certainly got beat by a better opponent tonight,” Riverhawks’ Coach Norm Bazin noted. “They were the better team tonight, we deserve what we got. We might be here a long time if we talk about the things we didn’t do well. There were a lot of things that were not up to snuff, and they made us pay for it. They got to a lot of pucks earlier than we did, and that’s an indicator that they wanted it more than we did.”
The River Hawks ended the night outshooting Maine 33-27, but the Black Bears were able to convert on more of their opportunities.
With his first career hat trick, Blaine Byron led the way for Maine, and continued his chase for 100 career points, increasing his career total to 78.
The game ended on a sour note, with the two teams in a brawl behind the Black Bears net. The situation that led to the third period accounting for 37 penalty minutes for each team on the official stat sheet, with a laundry list of offenses including four 10-minute misconduct penalties, holding, facemask and hitting after the whistle.
UMass-Lowell saw its second, and final, goal of the night from John Edwardh, at the 19:21 mark of the first period in what was a tough loss for the fifth-ranked team in the country.
UMass-Lowell (6-3-2) will get a chance to exact revenge on their home ice against the Maine (4-5-2) on Sunday.
Hockey East results
Massachusetts 3, Merrimack 1
Merrimack put 41 shots on goal against the Minutemen, but that was not enough, as UMass scored the 3-1 victory at home. Derek Petti scored the only goal for the Warriors. The Minutemen received goals from William Lagesson, Shane Bear and Jonny Lazarus in the win.
No. 18 Michigan 4, No. 4 Boston U. 0
Freshman goalie Hayden Lavigne recorded his second career shutout and Tony Calderon scored a pair of goals as No. 18 Michigan shut out No. 4 Boston University 4-0. Lavigne stopped 30 shots on the evening for the Wolverines.
No. 14 Ohio State 7, Connecticut 4
Connecticut jumped out to a 4-2 lead in the second period, but host Ohio State scored five unanswered goals for a 7-4 victory. Four different players found the net for the Huskies while David Gust recorded a hat trick for the 14th-ranked Buckeyes.