GORHAM, Maine — After taking a 3-0 lead through two periods, the Western Connecticut State University men's ice hockey team tied 4-4 in its Little East Conference opener at the University of Southern Maine on Friday. USM won the shootout 1-0 to improve to 0-1-1 and 0-0-1 in the LEC, while the Wolves moved to 2-0-1 and 0-0-1.
The first three goals were scored by newcomers
Edward Mirigliano (Reading, Pa.),
Jovanni Smeriglio (Brookfield, Conn.) and
Lynden Donald-Gorman (Edmonton, Alberta) put the visitors up, 3-0. Mirigliano netted the first goal of the contest in the opening two and a half minutes off the feed from
Victor-Antoine Fortier (Sherbrooke, Quebec). Before the first Wolves goal, USM played aggressively with seven straight shots, but goaltender
Michael Burgos (Castle Rock, Colo.) saved a pair, while
Tyler Gobel (Lindon, N.J.) and
Martin Brusoe (Madison, Wisc.) each blocked one. Less than 10 minutes later,
Dante Debueriis' (Port Washington, N.Y.) missed shot was corralled by Debueriis before the quick feeds to
Tyler Blassingame (Allen, Texas) then Smerglio for the two-goal WestConn advantage.
Off a won faceoff by
Jacob Lavoie (Taunton, Mass.) in the second period, Donald-Gorman padded the lead to three with assists by
Tony Morran (Boca Raton, Fla.) and Smerglio at 7:09. USM cut the Wolves' lead to one point off goals by Hunter Belisle and Ben Aucoin.
A little more than two minutes into the third period, Adrian Jubran netted the equalizer for the Huskies. Halfway through the fourth,
Phil Parker (Rehoboth, Mass.) tied the game at four apiece off assists by Fortier and
Matteo Orme-Lynch (Courbevoie, France) for a 4-3 edge to take advanatge of the shorthanded Huskies. Kayde Kinaschuk's powerplay goal at 4:41 in the fourth period tied it again at four apiece to force overtime.
After a scoreless OT, the game went to a shootout, as Ethan Macduff was the only one to score for USM.
Burgos and Loic Morin each saved 33 shots during the contest.
The Wolves remain on the road to face LEC opponent Babson College on Saturday at 4 p.m.
