The Black Bears and Bobcats line up for the National Anthem ahead of Friday’s top-ten clash. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Santamaria — UMaine Athletics)

All eyes were on the Alfond Friday night as a top-ten showdown between the #9 Maine Black Bears and the #7 Quinnipiac Bobcats was the must-watch game of the night for college hockey fans everywhere.

The early-season heavyweight bout lived up to its hype as Maine grittily found a way to grind out a gutsy 2-1 victory in a frantic and fiery affair that kept the deafening sold-out Alfond Faithful on the edge of their seats.

“That was a blast,” said senior defenseman David Breazeale after the game. “Coming into our building with the fans that we have, it felt like playoff hockey in October. That’s what you want out of college hockey, and we’re excited to go again tomorrow.”

As was expected, the evenly matched clash was played on a skate blades’ edge, with neither team able to overpower the other. Both sides scratched and clawed their way to creating some solid offensive chances, but for the most part, Friday evening’s contest was a defensive grudge match full of heavy hits, active sticks, and white knuckles.

Neither team allowed the other any time or space. Sticking to their defensive assignments like glue, they frustrated each other by constantly hounding the other off the puck in a relentless, battering style. A lot of effort was put in for not a lot of offensive reward.

It was trench warfare.

The Alfond was packed to the rafters. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Santamaria — UMaine Athletics).

“It was a really good hockey game, it was kind of what we expected. Frustrating at times because they are a really good team. I thought we got better as it went along and that was a good sign. It wasn’t pretty, it wasn’t a masterpiece by any means but that’s cause of the opponent,” Maine Head Coach Ben Barr said.

At the end of the day, Maine was able to break the Quinnipiac line with superior execution. Their forwards, defensemen, goaltender, and special teams all executed marginally better than the Bobcats. But that small margin was what made all the difference Friday night.

Senior forward Nolan Renwick got the Homecoming Weekend party started, lighting the lamp early in the first period. Receiving a stretch pass from Taylor Makar, Renwick streaked into the Bobcat zone on a quick developing two-on-one rush chance with Ross Mitton alongside. Bearing down on Dylan Silverstein's net with Ross Mitton to his right, Renwick, on a red-hot start to the year, decided to take the shot himself, lasering a blister of a wrister into the far side of the net to put Maine up early.

The snipe and then the celly for Nolan Renwick’s first period goal. (Both photos Courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco — UMaine Athletics).

Sophomore forward Charlie Russell announced himself to Black Bear Nation later that period, doubling the lead after linemate Harrison Scott streaked into the offensive zone with pace, stopped on a dime at the faceoff circle, spun onto his forehand, and fired a heavy shot off Silverstein’s pad. Russell, crashing the net with purpose, pounced on the loose puck to score his first collegiate goal.

“Scotty made a great play, got it to the net. I found the puck in front and put it in,” Russell said. “[I] got sniped by the celly, but it was awesome; it was electric in there.”

Russell, a sophomore who played seven games for Clarkson before returning to juniors midway through last season, may have slipped during his goal celebration, but his leap onto the glass underneath the pandemonium of a celebratory student section’s balcony will be a moment the New York native will never forget.

Charlie Russell hunts the puck during the second period. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Santamaria — UMaine Athletics)

Russell’s tally would end up being the game-winning goal, as Quinnipiac cut their deficit in half at the end of the second frame when Bobcat forward Tyler Borgula scorched his first college goal on the power play from a set-play one-timer off the faceoff that crept through Albin Boija.

It would be Boija’s and the Black Bears' penalty kill’s only blemish of an otherwise outstanding game that dragged Maine over the finish line.

Simply put, Maine’s penalty kill out-executed Quinnipiac’s powerplay.

The Black Bears certainly didn’t plan on having their penalty kill’s heroics be the story of the night going into the game, as Maine dug themselves into an early hole with their undisciplined play, wearing out the ice leading to their penalty box in the first period.

Maine’s PK was called on to bail out the Black Bears on six different occasions, four of which occurred in the first period alone, including an extended five-on-three that was successfully killed.

“Our composure wasn’t great, three or four penalties in the first period,” Barr said. “That was our first [time this season], where we got punched in the mouth a little bit. I thought we handled it, and we’re obviously going to have to be better tomorrow.”

Maine may have been knocked down in the first with the plethora of penalties they committed, but the resolute Boija and an unwavering PK made sure none of those dealt a knockout blow.

“He’s awesome. He’s our rock. Made save after save tonight. Made all of the saves he should have,” Russell said about his goaltender’s nineteen stops.

“Oh my god, this place is electric. You always hear things when you’re talking to guys [about] how awesome it is to play at the University of Maine, but it’s something you don’t really know until you go here and see a game in person. It was awesome.” Russell enthused about the Alfond atmosphere.

Albin Boija fights off a shot while Brandon Holt ties up a lurking Bobcat. (Photo courtesy of Anthony DelMonaco — UMaine Athletics)

The Swedish sophomore’s biggest moment came midway through the second period when he stonewalled a Bobcat 2-on-0 with a dynamic post-to-post save.

“That was huge. As a team, when you know you have someone back there [you can trust], you can make mistakes, and you’ll still end up okay,” Russell said about Boija.

Maine’s defense mirrored their goaltender’s demeanor. Cool, calm, and collected. Although the Black Bears’ backend lost Grayson Arnott early in the game after a heavy hit into the boards caused his’ helmet to cut open his forehead, forcing Arnott to leave the game to get stitches, Maine’s six remaining defensemen were immense all night. They needed to be, it was all hands on deck.

“David Breazeale logged a ton of minutes, Holter [Brandon Holt] those guys were awesome back there tonight blocking shots, clearing pucks. Franky [Frank Djurasevic], Chabs [Brandon Chabrier], especially when Arnie [Grayson Arnot] went down there, Liam [Lesakowski], those guys did a really good job against a talented team,” Barr said.

The Black Bears’ sixth d-man was Jack Dalton, who replaced usual mainstay Luke Antonacci in the lineup.

Maine’s largely veteran defense showed why experience is invaluable, as the Black Bear blueliners never looked fazed by the pressure of facing the super-skilled Bobcat forwards. 

“The cool thing about our team is there’s no panic. We know we’re going to go out there and keep it calm, and we’re going to stack in front of the net. We know if shots get through, Albin’s going to be back there to save it,” Breazeale said.

Maine’s defense did an impeccable job poking their sticks onto loose pucks, not allowing Quinnipiac’s lethal shooters time to settle bouncing pucks into their wheelhouse and turn them into clean shots. The Black Bears, mirroring what their opponents did to them, were tight and always pestering the Bobcats puck carriers, They never allowed Quinnipiac time or space to breathe without being swarmed by a pack of Bears. Maine defended the middle of the ice diligently and doggedly finished their hits, making sure to take any Bobcat they could out of the play.

“I think playing in between the dots is a big thing for us, having really good gaps, and staying tight to our checks, not give them space in the O-zone,” Breazeale explained. “They are a fast team. They have really good stick skills in the O-zone, so the tighter we can stay to them, the better we perform defensively.”

Maine’s best team defense moment came in the game's final minutes. Up one goal, the Black Bears were tasked with shutting down a Quinnipiac 6-on-4 as the Bobcats pulled their goaltender while already on a power play.

The Bobcats threw everything but the kitchen sink at Maine’s net, but the Black Bears held strong, not only keeping the puck out of the goal, but did not allow a single shot to even reach Boija during their two-man advantage.

“Shooting lanes and really good sticks,” Breazeale explained as the keys to Maine’s 6-on-4 success. “The second you’re able to break up one of those plays and you are able to jump, try and get it out of the zone, and then pack it back into the house.”

A raucous Student Section provided an atmosphere deserving of a top-ten tilt. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Santamaria — UMaine Athletics).

Nothing came easy for the Black Bear offense, who had to fight tooth and nail for every inch of ice. Although both of Maine’s goals came in the first period, it wasn’t until the third that the Black Bears started to find their offensive rhythm, beginning to buzz around the Quinnipiac net on the cycle.

“I thought the third was our best. We started getting a little zone time which we didn’t have a ton of in the first,” Barr said.

It was the Sully Scholle, Lynden Breen, and Josh Nadeau line that jolted Maine’s offensive juices into action. Although the smallest of the Black Bears’ line combinations, the trio had an excellent shift midway through the third period, during which they were able to work the play around the boards deep into Bobcat territory, rolling off checks, keeping their feet moving, and not relinquishing control of the puck.

It was just the spark Maine needed, as the rest of the Black Bears began to follow suit, stacking strong offensive shifts one after another, taking good care of the puck, and keeping it far away from Boja’s net. The Bobcats only had five shots on the Maine net in the third period, which had much to do with the sheer amount of time Maine was able to keep control of the puck deep in the Quinnipiac end.

The Alfond Faithful let out a huge sigh of relief and a hearty cheer when the final horn sounded on Maine’s tenacious Game One win.

After the game, neither coach was particularly pleased with their team’s play. Both will look to see marked improvements for Saturday’s rematch.

“I thought we had some moments. We had some guys who really struggled with a lot of things. And obviously, their goalie makes that two-on-one save, which was huge. Give credit to Maine; they were good,” Quinnipiac Head Coach Rand Pecknold said after the game.

Barr also wants to see improvements from his team for Saturday’s sequel. While discipline to stay out of the penalty box will be an obvious area that requires attention, Barr and his staff will be scouring the videotapes to dissect the small details their team can improve on.

“I’ll have to watch [the video], I’m sure there are going to be twenty things [that need improving]. It’s not going to be one of those games where we were great at that or great at that, but we knew that coming in. When you play Quinnipiac, you never leave that game feeling like wow, we were awesome because it’s just going to be a grind.”

Maine understands that, while it was good enough to grind out a win on Friday, they will need to be much better on Saturday night, as Quinnipiac will make all the necessary adjustments to become the best versions of themselves. In the past two season series against the Bobcats, Maine came away with a Friday night win but fell the next night. Pecknold remembers this, too, and is confident in his team’s ability to bounce back stronger the next night. They’ve done it plenty of times before.

“The year we won the National Championship [in 2023], we came up here and got our tail kicked the first night too. We didn’t handle the moment well, and we used it to build. We’ll use that again,” Pecknold said.

So far this season, we’ve seen Maine’s offense come alive in two steamrolling wins (although one was an exhibition) where their silky skill dazzled their way to high-flying victories.

But now, we’ve also seen that this team has the mental fortitude, maturity, and resolve to grind out a win under difficult circumstances. They got punched in the mouth but didn’t waver, returning a blow just as hard.

Can the Black Bears strike the knockout punch and come away from this weekend's prizefight as unanimous victors?

Or will the Bobcats, who are on the ropes, even things up in Round Two and send this decision to the judges' table? 

Either way, Saturday night is sure to be another blow-for-blow battle — one not to be missed.

Harrison Scott thanks Albin Boija for his terrific performance after the game. (Photo courtesy of Sophia Santamaria — UMaine Athletics)