(Photo/Christopher Tran/Connector)

It may not have been on everybody’s Christmas list, but Michael Louria’s overtime goal over the Maine Black Bears was certainly well appreciated at the Tsongas Center Saturday night. Though it was a hard-fought, tight hockey game, UMass Lowell was finally able to triumph 3-2.

“They made it difficult to transition and get through the neutral zone,” said UMass Lowell Head Coach Norm Bazin, who has finished the half of the season without losing to any Hockey East opponent. “They’re a good hockey team, so we’re thrilled to get the two points.”

Statistically, they game was pretty close to a draw. UMass Lowell matched Maine in shots on goal (39-34 in favor of UMass Lowell), faceoffs (37-31 in favor of UMass Lowell), and overall effort.

UMass Lowell and Maine have historically had some pretty heated affairs as of late. The adrenaline was certainly cranked up for this game, especially in the first period which ended scoreless. Three penalties including one interference on Maine’s Mark Hamilton which sent the bench and the crowd into a frenzy.

“I think over the past couple years it’s just kind of become more of a rivalry,” said AJ White, who scored a goal in the game. “I think we love to play them; they love to play us.”

Throughout the first two periods ensued in a lot of action, with neither team able to exploit an advantage over the other. Hard hits were being thrown left and right, and shots on net were quite frequent.

“They made it extremely difficult to get pucks to the net,” said Coach Bazin. “You saw in the first and second period, they had almost three layers of shot blockers; they blocked an awful lot of shots.”

The lone goal of the first 40 minutes of battle was scored by Maine’s Blaine Byron, who forced in the shot after a large scuffle under the net with below a minute left in the period.  The goal occurred under a lot of traffic, and to many eyes in the arena, the puck looked like it was frozen by Maine goalie Sean Romeo. The referees called it a goal however, and Coach Bazin accepted after a brief discussion.

“I thought he had covered up,” said Coach Bazin. “In the end, you can’t control that, and sometimes it’s a waste of energy to even discuss it.”

The student section also was packed Saturday night. Armed with noisemakers and cowbells, their influence at one point may have turned the game for UMass Lowell.

About half way through the third period, with the game still at 1-0, Terence Wallin had a clean, but intense check on one of the Maine players that left him on the ice. From that point, the crowd became greatly animated as they started rattling off chants without end. The team’s intensity rose with the arena’s intensity rising, and shortly thereafter, White had tied it up with his goal.

“We feed off of our fans,” said White.

Nolan Vessey of Maine had given his team the lead back with a goal later on in the third. Less than a minute after however, Tyler Muller tied it up again. As White brought the puck up the ice on a breakaway, he found Evan Campbell in the slot. Campbell rifled off a slapshot, and Muller redirected it into the net.

“I thought we responded extremely well to their goal instead of it being a backbreaker,” said Coach Bazin.

As regulation ended, both teams nearly matched each other in shots on goal, while UMass Lowell’s 35 was just slightly over Maine’s 34 shots. The River Hawks dominated the overtime period though, putting the puck on the net four times, and holding Maine to zero shots. Exactly 1:03 were left on the clock when Campbell had shot another one-timer at the goalie. While the entire student section was on their feet, Michael Louria took Campbell’s shot, and plugged it into the net to send the River Hawks back to the locker room victorious.

With the win, UMass Lowell finishes the first half without a loss in Hockey East at an in conference record of 7-0-2. Overall, going into the holidays, they are 10-3-3. While they have much success to look back on though, this team is not satisfied, said Bazin.

“I wouldn’t put too much thought into the first half, because the second half is longer,” said Bazin.