ORONO, Maine — The Maine Black Bears improved to 9-1 at home as Ryan Lomberg notched two goals and an assist while leading Maine to a 5-1 victory over the American International Yellow Jackets Saturday night at Alfond Arena, as the Black Bears swept the weekend series.
Maine goaltender Dan Sullivan returned in-between the pipes after not getting any play time since Nov., 4 2012, in a 4-0 loss against New Hampshire. AIC’s Chris Porter wasted no time welcoming the opposing goaltender back, scoring off the rebound given up on a shot from Blake Peake just 31 seconds in. This was the lone goal for the Yellow Jackets.
“I was nervous, still just getting into the game there,” said Sullivan.
Maine answered with a goal from its freshmen line. Brian Morgan sent a shot toward AIC goalie Ryan Kerpan that went wide. Cam Brown collected the pick behind the net and sent it to Blaine Byron, who knocked the puck past Kerpan off a one-timer.
Maine took the lead in the second when Lomberg fed a pass to Mark Anthoine, who shot it on net. Kerpan made the save, then gave up a rebound and Stu Higgins knocked it in at 8:19.
Just under two minutes later, Lomberg passed the puck to Anthoine, who took a slap shot. Kerpan made the initial save, but struggled to collect the rebound just out of his reach. Lomberg capitalized on the loose puck and buried it in the back of the net at 10:14.
“That was definitely our best line; it was good for Lomberg to have a night like that,” said Maine coach Red Gendron.
Early in the third, Daniel Renouf’s shot was deflected to Brian Morgan, who beat the AIC goalie to the far corner to make it 4-1 at 2:39.
Lomberg capped the scoring on a wrist shot past Kerpan at 11:01; Devin Shore got an assist on the goal, extending his point streak to seven games.
“Obviously, we were more disappointed in the results last night, but it was a much better team effort tonight,” said AIC coach Gary Wright.
Maine will now look to get its first road victory, as the team travels to Florida to compete in the 2013 Florida College Classic.
American International will get some rest and return to action when it hosts Air Force on Friday, Jan. 3.
