KEENE, N.H. – Rookie goaltender Loic Morin authored a 33-save shutout as the University of Southern Maine posted a 3-0 win over the Keene State College men's ice hockey team in a Little East Conference matchup on Saturday afternoon at Keene Ice.
The Huskies (3-1-0, 2-0-0 LEC), coming off a 7-3 road win over Western Connecticut State University on Friday night in Danbury, scored 11:14 in to play from in front and then added a power play goal with less than a minute to go in the second to deflate the Owls (2-2-0, 0-2-0 LEC), who dropped their first-ever conference game 4-1 to Babson College last night.
KSC was not without chances – including seven power plays – but came up empty, and after outshooting Southern Maine 24-14 over the opening 40 minutes, were outshot 13-9 in the third chasing two goals.
USM's opening goal came a little more than halfway through the opening period on what was one of their first offensive chances of the game, as Conor Donovan began a transition rush and passed off to his right for John Hagan. Hagan then flew into the zone and dished a centering feed from below the faceoff dot to a crashing Donovan, who tipped the puck in before crashing into KSC goaltender
Ben Skelton. The Owls then killed off two penalties before having a power play chance of their own late in the first, but
Thor Hansen rang iron with 2:08 to go. Morin then made three saves in the final minute to keep his team in front 1-0.
Fourteen of the Owls' 33 credited shots in the game came off their seven power play chances, with five coming on an opportunity that began just 26 seconds into the second, but KSC still could not find a way past Morin. Ultimately, special teams became the factor that swung the game, with Southern Maine using a power play goal from Ben Aucoin with 52 seconds left in the period to double their lead. Four of KSC's power plays came with either a chance to take the lead or tie the game. Donovan also took a holding penalty just 23 seconds after Aucoin's goal to give the Owls a chance to respond quickly, but they mustered just two shots on that chance, and their offensive chances dwindled as the third period went on after an early flurry that saw
Kyle Gonzalez hit the pipe with 16:22 left.
The Owls had one more chance to get back into it after a tripping call on Aucoin 8:07 into the final period, but shot wide three times, had two shots blocked, two shots saved by Morin, and saw Hansen hit the post for the second time. Just 1:38 after the expiration of the penalty, Kayde Kinaschuk salted the game away by corralling a loose puck off a USM faceoff win, shooting as he spun around and beating Skelton to the low right corner on the near post.
Morin made 33 saves for Southern Maine in his first career shutout. Skelton stopped 24 shots for KSC one night after a 57-save effort against Babson College.
A potent unit a season ago, the Owls' power play is now 1-for-14 on the season while KSC's penalty kill is 10-for-16. Outside of the eight-goal outburst against Franklin Pierce University in the home opener, the Owls have scored just three goals in the other three games.
Keene State travels to face Worcester State University (2-0-2, 0-0-1 MASCAC) on Thursday (November 13) for a 7:10 p.m. start before a conference home game against Western Connecticut State University (0-4-0, 0-2-0 LEC) next Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
