GORHAM, Maine – Huskies junior Brendan Dowler (New Preston, Conn.) scored 59 seconds into overtime for his first goal of the season, leading the University of Southern Maine Huskies to their first win of the season, a 2-1 victory over the Becker Hawks on Tuesday evening.

THE BASICS

March 9, 2021

USM Ice Arena

Score: Southern Maine 2 – Becker 1 (Final/OT)

Records: The Becker College Hawks 1-4-0 | The University of Southern Maine Huskies 1-1-0

GAME SUMMARY

In the 3-on-3 overtime period, the Huskies controlled the puck in the offensive zone for nearly all the overtime until the game-winning goal.

Becker looked as though they would be able to clear their zone and turn up ice on offense, but the Huskies won a puck battle just outside the offensive zone that eventually led to a quick developing 2-on-1 for Dowler and junior Tyler Gardiner (Watertown, Mass.).

Dowler carried in and slid a pass into the left-wing circle for Gardiner, who returned the pass to Dowler in prime scoring territory near the goal. Dowler settled the pass and fired a wrister past a diving Hawks first-year goalie Andrew LoRusso (Peabody, Mass.), providing the game-winning goal in a 2-1 victory for USM.

The Hawks were on the board early in the first period on the third goal of the season by junior Jason Diamond (Lakeville, Conn.)

Diamond broke into the offensive zone on a 2-on-2 with sophomore Luke James (Moon Township, Pa.). Diamond flipped a pass to James on the left-wing and headed for the net. James saw Diamond outskating the defense to the net and slid a pass from his backhand to Diamond's forehand. Diamond redirected the pass under the blocker arm of Huskies sophomore goalie Gabriel Couture (Bouchrville, Quebec, Canada).

Southern Maine tied things at 1-1 late in the second period with sophomore Curtis Judd (Saco, Maine) creating the tying-goal almost entirely on his own.

Judd took a long stretch pass from junior Adam Withers (Kenora, Ontario, Canada) and entered the offensive zone on the left-wing. His initial shot was blocked, but he took the rebound, skated around the back of the net and fired a wraparound that was saved by LoRusso.

Sticking with the play, Judd skated across the slot from right-to-left, received a pass in the slot, skated into the left-wing circle and found a passing lane to the back post for freshman Austin Marini (Hyde Park, Mass.), who netted his first career collegiate goal for a 1-0 lead.

FOR THE HAWKS

• James' assist gives him a team-high four helpers this season.
• Senior Phillip Garcia (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Hawks with seven shots on goal.
• LoRusso made 32 saves on the evening but drops to 1-1-0 with the loss.

FOR THE HUSKIES

• Senior Maverick Lynes (Christian Lake, British Columbia, Canada) led the Huskies with six shots on goal.
• Couture finished with 26 saves and the win helps him to 1-1-0.

UP NEXT

The Hawks open up a home-and-home series with Connecticut College this Friday and Saturday with the Camels hosting the Hawks on Friday at 7:00 p.m. The Huskies head for Colby College on Saturday, the time for puck drop has yet to be announced.