GORHAM, Maine –
Marcus Chrisafideis scored twice in less than three minutes late in the third period to help the Keene State College men's ice hockey team erase what had been a 3-0 deficit, but the University of Southern Maine scored the go-ahead goal just 35 seconds later – with 1:01 to go in regulation – as the Owls suffered a frustrating 4-3 Little East Conference loss to the Huskies on Saturday at the USM Ice Arena.
It seemed like the game – which saw KSC (0-3-0, 0-2-0 LEC) outshoot the Huskies (1-1-1, 1-0-1 LEC) 30-26, win nearly 56 percent of the faceoffs, and block three more shots – had a chance to be the desperately-needed spark for the Owls, who fell into a deep hole for the second straight night after a 5-0 loss last night at Babson College in which head coach Bobby Rodrigue expressed a need for quick improvement afterward. This time, they battled back, as after Owen Drummey made it 3-0 Southern Maine halfway through the second, KSC carried the play.
Collin Patterson got the Owls on the board with a power play goal, the extra-man unit's third goal in as many games, to make it 3-1 with 5:05 to go in the second. KSC weathered an early surge from the home team in the third as
Ethan Swanson made a pair of shots and USM recorded the first 10 shot attempts of the period. It paid off when the Owls cashed in late, with Chrisafideis making it a one-goal game (3-2) by potting a
Chase Carney feed with 4:11 left in regulation. The Owl senior captain then tied it with 1:36 on the clock, redirecting a bad-angle shot from
Thor Hansen who gathered possession below the goal line initially after KSC dumped the puck in behind USM goalie Loic Morin.
But before the Owls could salvage a conference point, or even better, the tie vanished, as Drummey became the second Husky to score a pair on the day by potting what turned out to be the game-winner from Ben Aucoin with 61 seconds left.
The Huskies had taken a 2-0 lead in the first period when Ethan Macduff scored twice, the first on a power play halfway through the period and the second after KSC allowed another late-period goal with 1:56 left in the opening 20 minutes.
The Owls have scored on three of their eight power play opportunities in the early-going this season, but opponents have also scored three times in as many chances – one of which tied the game and two that have come with the game tied or opponent up one.
Three of the Owls' last four losses dating to last season have come by one goal, and KSC is 1-7 in one-goal games dating to a 6-5 overtime loss at Fitchburg State University on January 5 to begin the 2026 calendar year.
"Unfortunately, we picked up where we left off last night which dug a pretty big hole," said Rodrigue. "We outplayed them pretty badly over the final 40 which is, hopefully, something to build on. We have some really big games coming up."
Ethan Swanson made his first start of the season and stopped 22 shots while Morin stopped 27 – 22 in the first two periods.
In their season-plus in the conference, the Owls have never won the Saturday game of a conference back-to-back. KSC is also winless in three tries against Southern Maine, losing the last two by finals of 6-5 in overtime and 4-3 in Gorham.
KSC returns home to take on Middlebury College (season opener), who will be opening their season, on Friday, November 13 at 7:15 p.m. The Panthers are receiving votes in the most recent USCHO Top 25 poll. The Owls will then take on Western Connecticut State University on Saturday, November 14 at Keene Ice in their single-game conference weekend. The Wolves picked up a standings point when they tied USM 4-4 yesterday before falling in a shootout.
