After Saturday’s thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Endicott to win the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC), the University of New England enters the first round of the D-III NCAA tournament with a lot of momentum and excitement as they will host Plymouth State on Saturday in first round action. The Nor’easters have been hot at the right time of the year having won 11 games in a row and look for another battle when the Panthers come to Biddeford this weekend.
“Plymouth State is a familiar opponent for us,” said head coach Kevin Swallow. “We have played them before including a pre-season game this year where we scored some power play goals but five-on five was pretty even hockey. Craig [Russell] does a great job over there and we know it is going to be a battle with them for the full 60 minutes.”
Leading the way for the Nor’easters offensively, the line of Jared Christy (16-16-32; +19), Austin Morgan (10-23-33; +14) and Jake Fuss (11-26-37; +17) has been on fire having been united towards the end of the season. The three lead the team in points and have combined for ten power play goals and ten game-winning goals.
“All year they have asked to play together,” noted Swallow. “We did put them together down the stretch and they have been a terrific combination. They are the best line we have had here since the days of Ryan Bloom and the Fleurents. They certainly can create challenges for the opposition, but we have a lot more behind them. I really like the depth on this team and the balance. We have always been able to score goals but this year we have had balance with good defense and great goaltending.
The “backbone” of the team has been netminder Billy Girard IV. Girard has posted a 19-3-1 record with a 2.26 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage in 23 starts this season.
“Billy really has been the backbone of the team all season,” said Swallow. “he has been a difference maker on the back-end for us and really gives the guys on the ice a lot of confidence. He along with eh rest of the team have been playing really well over the last month or so and we want to keep that going for a couple more weeks.”
UNE will host Plymouth State on Saturday night. Game time is scheduled for 7 PM in Biddeford and Coach Swallow is hoping for another electric atmosphere like the team saw in the building in their win over Endicott.
“The atmosphere was really great last week, stated Swallow. “Unfortunately, spring break starts at the end of the week so we may not have the student representation we saw last week. I know some of the guys on the team are trying to get their friends to leave on Sunday but regardless we have had great crowds all season and it should be a loud crows on Saturday night.”
