Box Score

BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Senior Dan Rautenberg (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) had a pair of goals and junior Jon Grandinetti (Ottawa, Ontario) tallied three points to lead the University of Southern Maine men's ice hockey team to a 5-1 victory over the University of New England in ECAC East League action Friday evening at Biddeford Ice Arena.

With the triumph, the Huskies bring an end to a three-game skid and improve to 7-9-4 (5-6-2 ECAC East). UNE -- winless in its last eight -- now sits at 3-14-2 overall and 1-12-0 in league contests.

USM got on the board early, as first-year Lorne Miller (Montreal, Quebec) slapped home a shot just 43 seconds in. Rautenberg doubled the margin at the 12:30 mark of the opening frame, shortly before a hard hit into the side wall shattered a pane of glass and resulted in a delay of about 15 minutes.

Neither team would score once first-period action resumed for the remaining 6:36, and the visitors led, 2-0, after 20 minutes.

First-year Matt Tucceri (Kennebunk, Maine) registered the lone marker of the middle stanza at 5:52 to make it 3-0 heading into the final period.

Grandinetti netted a goal near the midway point of the third on the power play to increase the difference to four, before the Nor'easters got one back with 8:23 left off a shot by junior Tyler Fleurent (Biddeford, Maine). First-year Zeth Zielinski (Woonsocket, R.I.) and sophomore Zach Lokey (Elizabethtown, Pa.) were credited with assists on the play for Big Blue.

Southern Maine capped the scoring inside the last four minutes off the stick of Rautenberg, who posted his seventh goal of the season as the Huskies worked on a 5-on-3 advantage.

First-years Brad McGovern (Haverhill, Mass.) and Ryan Seward (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) each notched two assists on the night in support for USM.

Huskies sophomore goaltender Braely Torris (Eckville, Alberta) turned aside 28 shots to get the win, while his counterpart for UNE, sophomore Ian Edwards (Linden, Mich.), made 22 saves.

The two teams head to Gorham on Saturday to complete the home-and-home match-up. The puck is slated to drop at 4 p.m.