Something very special happens in the college hockey world when the University of New Hampshire plays against the University of Maine. Sports rivalries are written and talked about in the media every day, but this particular rivalry might be the most fierce and intense in college hockey. Students lined up outside of the Whittemore Center on Monday for tickets in the freezing cold, some for over 7 hours, just to be the first to get a ticket to one of the games in the weekend series. Other fans trickled in as the time on the clock ticked down to puck drop. Even the electricity during warm-ups was magnetic. Students were chanting and booing the UMaine athletic trainers 40 minutes before the first period. It is safe to say that everyone was excited for this matchup, and when the game started, both teams were ready.
The first goal in this rivalry matchup belonged to Paul Thompson, with assists by Captain Mike Sislo and Kevin Goumas. Immediately after the goal was scored, Goumas was sent to the box for high sticking and UMaine started off the night capitalizing on one of their many powerplays. Gustav Nyquist scored on assists by his fellow first linemates Tanner House and Brian Flynn.
Under 2 minutes passed before UNH responded with a full strength goal by Austin Block, with John Henrion and Matt Campanale picking up the assists. Nyquist, however, was not done. He scored his second goal of the night on another Maine powerplay, this time assisted by Robby Dee and Will O’Neill.
UNH would gather their third and fourth goals by Dalton Speelman and Goumas. Goumas was the only Wildcat to take a penalty during the first period, but definitely made up for it with his late first period goal.
Things seemed to settle down during the second period with only one goal scored by Nyquist, giving him his first career hat trick, and ending his recent offensive struggles. Nyquist continued his relentless offensive pressure and nearly got a fourth goal on a breakaway late in the period, but UNH goaltender Matt DiGirolamo blocked Nyquist’s five-hole attempt and managed arguably the best save of the night.
At 7:06 of the third period, Thompson scored his second goal of the night off of a beautiful pass by Blake Kessel. This goal marked Thompson’s 50th career Hockey East goal and his 100th career point. It was Mike Beck with the final goal of the period, and the game, securing UNH a 6-3 win.
After the game, Thompson seemed satisfied with his accomplishment, but gave credit to his linemates Phil DeSimone and Sislo “I credit [this achievement] a lot to the guys I play with” he said. “The most important thing is that we got the two points. That’s really the only thing that matters right now...is the two points we came up with.”
Sislo summed up the team’s attitude towards tomorrow night’s rematch between the two teams. “We just have to try to stay out of the box and play hard. Hopefully good things will happen.”
Undeniably, tomorrow's game will be just as intense and exciting as tonight's. One thing is for certain, UNH hockey nation is always in for a treat when Maine comes to town.
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