Box Score DANBURY, Conn. — Despite a second-period rally with back-to-back goals from Luca Maiuri (Niagara on the Lake, Ontario) and Scott McNulty (Williamstown, N.J.), the Western Connecticut State University men's ice hockey team fell 7-3 in its Little East Conference (LEC) opener at home against the University of Southern Maine on Friday.  The Wolves dropped to 0-2-0 overall and 0-1-0 in the league, while Southern Maine moved to 2-1-0 and 1-0-0.

The Huskies took a 4-0 lead in the first period, including a powerplay goal by Kadin Ilott at 18:54, but Maiuri put WestConn the board in the second stanza off passes from Victor-Antoine Fortier (Sherbrooke, Quebec) and Matthew Donegan (Medford, N.J.). The Huskies tried to clear the puck out of their own attack zone, but Donegan deflected the pass along the boards where Foriter was waiting to keep the puck in play near the center of the neutral zone. Fortier passed to an open Maiuri just beyond the blueline as the sophomore skated passed a pair of defenders for a high right goal at 10:54.

Less than three minutes later, the hosts cut the deficit to within two with a goal from McNulty as Tyler Gobel (Lindon, N.J.) and Connor Loerzel (Gads Hill, Ontario) assisted on the play. Loerzel intercepted a deep pass in WestConn's attacking zone, passed it to Gobel along the boards, but the Huskies' goaltender Loic Morin abandoned the net to get the puck as McNulty beat him to it for a quick around-the-back goal.

Southern Maine closed out the second period with another goal at 14:30 and opened the third period with a tally at 0:41 to take a 6-2 lead. McNulty delivered the Wolves' third goal of the game at 13:00 in the final period off a blocked shot from Fortier. Fortier attempted a shot on goal but it bounced off a defender before McNulty tapped in the rebounded shot. Exactly a minute later, USM padded its lead by one for the 7-3 win.

Liam Lane (Castle Rock, Colo.) stopped 23 shots in the net for the home team through two periods and Dylan Dewachter (London, Ontario) denied seven for the Wolves in the third. Morin made 17 saves for the Huskies through regulation.

WestConn returns home for another LEC matchup against Babson College at 2:30 p.m. at the Danbury Ice Arena on Saturday.