Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Hockey has a new all-time program career points leader. Forward Aaron Higgins scored and dealt out two assists in a 6-0 win against #16 ranked UMass-Amherst, giving the Falmouth, ME native 96 career points and breaking a tie with 2025 alum Cody Ivey. The #7 ranked Mustangs finished off their ten-game homestand with their ninth win since October and their fourth straight shutout victory.
Central Maine showed they deserved the program's highest-ever spot in the ACHA Men's Division 3 rankings by emphatically defeating the second-highest ranked squad from the NorthEast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA). The Mustangs picked up a max goal differential win with goals from six different players. Goaltender Cam Wickens continued his unbelievable form by not allowing a goal in four consecutive games, moving his personal shutout streak to 249 minutes and 59 seconds.
Neither team found the back of the net in the first period despite a combined 24 shots on goal. Wickens stopped all ten shots he faced in the opening 20 minutes, while Michael Gilerman recorded 14 saves.
The game got chippier in the second period with both teams taking four penalties. It was a CMCC power play that gave the hosts the breakthrough. Just past the halfway point of the hockey game, with 8:12 remaining in the middle frame, Max Meserve fired a seeing eye shot from the right point that found the back of the net. It was the second goal for the freshman defenseman out of the Vermont Lumberjacks EHL junior team, beating Gilerman with five players in the shooting lane, including a great screen from Colby Pawson.
Dylan Blue then made it 2-0 just more than two minutes later with a powerplay goal of his own. Braeden Gagnon carried the puck into the offensive zone and drew a defender to him who delivered a hip check. Gagnon was able to poke puck over to Blue who suddenly found himself with a 2-on-0 advantage with UMass-Amherst out of position. Higgins set himself up as an option at the back post forcing Gilerman to stay deep in his crease, and Blue took advantage snapping a shot over his shoulder to set off more celebrations.
Things got even rougher in the third period with a combined 14 penalties being called and both teams collecting 22 PIMs. Colby Pawson got a goal of his own 4:27 into the frame, capitalizing on a bad mistake. The Minutemen turned the puck over in their defensive zone, with Lukas Dunn poking it free in the right circle. He slid it over to Pawson who buried a wrist shot from between the hashmarks before the four UMass players could converge on him.
Three goals in the final 5:07 put the game out of reach with Higgins involved in all of them. First, he created yet another powerplay goal by undressing the Minutemen defense with a deke to the top of the crease. Higgins' backhand shot went off the goaltender's shoulder and bounced toward the net but was ruled to have been cleared off the line at the last moment. Fortunately for the Mustangs, the puck landed on the stick of Sam Foley who deposited in the bottom corner to make it 4-0.
Next, Higgins left no doubt with a goal of his own to make it 5-0. A toe-drag deke in the right circle opened a shooting lane, and the junior cooled off his heatseeking wrist shot by launching the water bottle off the roof of the net. It was Higgins' team-leading 12th of the season.
Alternate captain Michael Belleau finished off the scoring with 1:13 left in the game. Higgins played provider once more, outracing UMass-Amherst down the ice and drawing both defensemen to him before sliding a pass across for Belleau. Gilerman did well in the full splits to get a piece of the initial shot, but Belleau simply jammed in the rebound to make it 6-0.
Wickens had to weather one final power play for UMass in the final minute to secure his fourth consecutive shutout victory. The freshman from Revere, MA finished the night with 39 saves while the CMCC power play unit was an efficient 4-for-8 in the game.
The Mustangs look to keep their incredible start to the season going with two more games on the weekend, both on the road against NECHA Colonial South opponents. Central Maine visits UConn on Saturday before traveling to Worcester Polytechnic Institute on Sunday.
