Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Hockey rode its luck down the stretch and got another fantastic performance from freshman goaltender Cam Wickens to shut out rival Thomas College 2-0 on Friday night at Norway Savings Bank Arena. Aaron Higgins scored his team-leading 19th goal of the campaign in the second period and Cody Dionne added an insurance marker heading into the third, but it was the 48 saves from Wickens that stymied any chance of a Terriers comeback.
"Very proud of our team tonight," said head coach Jordy Knoren after the game. "We had to play the right way to get the win. The penalty kill stepped up and we got some timely goals along with great goaltending to give us the victory. We have to continue to play the right way down the stretch and work hard if we're going to achieve the goals we've set this season."
Before the game, the team honored Higgins as the first player to reach the 100-career points milestone in program history. The Falmouth High School product was already the all-time leading scorer for Central Maine men's ice hockey and picked up his 100th point on the road against Worcester Polytechnic Institute on November 16th, having to wait more than two months for the team's next home game to receive his acknowledgement. The ACHA All-Athletic winger put up a blistering 32 goals and 30 assists in only 31 games in his first season in Auburn after transferring in from Liberty University. His goal on Saturday night upped his total to 108 points in a Mustangs jersey with 19 goals and 27 assists so far this campaign.
The first period saw #7 ranked Central Maine set a physical tone against the program's oldest and fiercest rival. Dionne, Colby Pawson, and Jonathan Rioux laid down some punishing hits along the boards, but neither team found the breakthrough in the opening 20 minutes. Cam Wickens kept things scoreless after two penalties in quick succession left the Mustangs shorthanded for four minutes just before the midway point of the frame.
CMCC opened the second period on its first power play after Caleb Micklon was called for tripping at the end of the first. The Mustangs failed to convert but did set the 5-on-4 unit up for success on their second attempt a few minutes later. Higgins deked his way past two defenders before dishing the puck off to fellow alternate captain Michael Belleau behind the net. He quickly circled around the back post to bury a cross-crease pass with a one-timer into the corner past a sprawling Matt D'Ortona in net. That made it 1-0 with 6:29 gone in the second.
Dionne added the insurance marker with 5:35 left in the middle period. A scramble at the front of the net saw the puck trickle wide into the left-wing corner. Lucas Laforest found Sam Foley in the left circle for a one-time shot. D'Ortona made the initial save, but Dionne was lurking on the doorstep to knock home the rebound for the Lewiston, ME native's third goal of the season.
The third period started with Thomas on the power play, after it was Central Maine's turn to take a penalty as time expired in the previous frame. CMCC's 87.3% penalty kill unit kept Thomas out and Wickens took over in the third to keep the Terriers at bay. The freshman from Revere, MA showed off some of his best saves making stops at full stretch with the pads and blocker, in particular robbing Joe Fischetto and Tyler Gay in the final minutes.
A parade of players to the penalty box elongated the final 1:58 of the contest with both coaches using their timeouts to boot. Dionne was called for tripping only to be cancelled out by a boarding call against Gay with 37 seconds left. A penalty for a Central Maine face-off violation and a holding call against Rioux made it a 5-on-3 powerplay for the Terriers with the empty net in the final moments, but Thomas could not muster a chance to spoil Wickens' shutout. The goaltender emphatically dropped the net down to the ice and took a seat on it to celebrate his fifth shutout of the season.
Wickens' 48 saves were his most in a single game this year, as the Terriers outshot Central Maine 48-43. CMCC went 1-for-4 with the man-advantage while Thomas was 0-for-6 on the power play. The Mustangs improve to 17-3-0 on the year with the win and remain undefeated in NECHA Colonial North division play at 6-0-0. The season sweep of the Terriers means they have not lost to Thomas in their last seven meetings dating back to 2022-23.
Up next, Central Maine prepares for its senior night next Friday, January 30th against Dartmouth College. Puck drop against the Big Green is scheduled for 6:45 pm at Norway Savings Bank Arena.
