GORHAM, Maine – Freshman Parker Sanderson (Bangor, Maine) had a goal and two assists to lead a balanced offense as the University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey team defeated the Wentworth Institute of Technology Leopards 7-2 in a non-conference game Saturday at the USM Ice Arena.
Winners of two straight, the Huskies climbed above the .500 mark with a 5-4 overall record. The Leopards dropped their fifth straight contest to slip to 3-6-1 overall. This was the first meeting between these two programs.
Leading by a pair of goals the Huskies potted three empty-net goals in the final minute, with the first coming off the stick of Sanderson at 19:00 to break the contest open.
Sanderson set up the Huskies' first goal in the opening period with a pass to rookie Tyler Mathieu (Stillwater Lake, N.S.). He picked up his second assist on a third-period goal by senior Zach Dymock (Dutton, Ont.) that made the score 4-2.
Mathieu and Wentworth sophomore Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) traded goals in the first period. Mathieu redirected Sanderson's pass out from behind the net by Wentworth senior goalie Joel Miller (Calgary, Alb.) at the 12:00 mark. McDonough equalized at 18:57 off a set-up from rookie Sean Brennan (Stony Point, N.Y.) and sophomore Ryan Sullivan (Whately, Mass.).
Senior Chad O'Brien (Johnstown, Penn.) scored the only goal of the second period to give USM a 2-1 lead. O'Brien's shot from a bad angle eluded Miller inside the near post.
Sophomore Alex Pantalone (Hudson, Mass.) scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 3:46 of the third period. Pantalone picked up a Wentworth turnover in the zone, turned and whipped a 30-foot wrist shot inside the right post.
Junior Jake Flynn (Lino Lakes, Minn.) pulled the Leopards within one at 6:47 with his first goal of the season. McDonough created the opportunity along the left-wing boards just seconds after USM had killed off a Leopard power play.
Dymock added his insurance goal at 12:37 picking the top right corner on Miller after an assist from Sanderson. Sophomore Victor Ivarsson (Stockholm, Sweden), who assisted on USM's first goal of the game, picked up his second assist on the play.
Sanderson and classmates Jimmy Currier (Middleton, Mass.) and Kyle Huhn (Brick, N.J.) tacked on empty-net goals in the final minute to account for the final score.
USM sophomore goalie Kyle Shapiro (Ocean, N.J.) recorded 19 saves to earn his fifth win of the season. Miller had 32 saves before being lifted for the extra attacker. Southern Maine finished the game with a 39-21 edge in shots on goal.
The Huskies travel to New England College next Friday (7:00 p.m.). Wentworth will travel to Stonehill College on Tuesday (7:00 p.m.) for a non-conference game.
USM Sports Information Contributed to this Recap
