Auburn, ME – CMCC Men's Hockey completed a two-game series sweep of Northern Arizona University with a 6-0 victory at Norway Savings Bank Arena on Sunday. The Mustangs scored an even two goals each period to run their winning streak to six straight games.
Two Central Maine players set records during the contest. Goaltender Cam Wickens set the new program record for longest shutout streak, which currently stands at 189:59, having gone more than three games without allowing a goal. The freshman from Revere, MA has been in excellent form, saving 123 of his last 124 shots faced. He currently boasts a .942 SV% and a 7-2-0 record.
Forward Aaron Higgins also reached a career milestone. The junior from Falmouth, ME scored in the third period, putting him in a tie for the most points in program history. He joins 2024 graduate Cody Ivey with 93 points. Higgins has been on a meteoric pace towards 100 points since joining the Mustangs last season after playing his freshman year at Liberty University. He earned ACHA All-Athletic team honors last year after posting 32 goals and 30 assists in 31 games, with his 62 points being a single-season record. He has gotten off to an even better start this campaign with 11 goals and 20 assists through the first 11 games.
CMCC got off to a good start on Sunday thanks to a contribution from its fourth line. Freshman Gavin Pellerin scored twice in the first period for his second and third goals of the season. His first tally came just 2:37 in. The Thornton Academy product motored down the right wing and faked a pass across the slot. That got Northern Arizona goaltender A.J. Jagles to move off his near post just enough for a shot to sneak through short side.
Pellerin scored his second goal a little more than two minutes later. Lukas Dunn forced a turnover behind the net from an offensive zone face-off. His pass to the front of the crease found Pellerin for a one-timer through the surprised netminder's five-hole.
The Ice Jacks, playing in their fourth game in four days, held the Mustangs off for the remainder of the period and the early minutes of the second. Sam Foley capitalized on Central Maine's first power play of the night to make it 3-0 at the 8:01 mark. Lucas Laforest's wrister was stopped, but Foley dug out the rebound for his ninth goal of the year.
It was 4-0 with 5:55 remaining in the second when Colby Pawson scored. The junior from Oakland, ME pounced on a clearing effort that came off the glass and buried his shot under Jagles' left pad.
Higgins got his record-tying point on the team's fifth goal, 5:44 into the third. The team survived a scare less than a minute earlier. On the power play, NAU came its closest to scoring its first goal against CMCC when Elliot Bajo hit the post. That led to a scramble with Wickens flopping around the crease and multiple players making shorthanded blocks to preserve the shutout. Higgins then came the other way to deke through the defense before roofing his shot under the bar.
Laforest put the finishing touches on things with 1:32 left. Zach Mitton and Heath McLean played pass across the point before finding Laforest in the slot. The freshman from Buxton, ME snapped his patented quick-release wrist shot into the top corner for the 6-0 margin of victory.
Central Maine now finishes up its ten-game homestand on Friday, November 14th with a visit from UMass-Amherst. That starts a three-game weekend for the Mustangs with trips to UConn and Worcester Polytech Institute on Saturday and Sunday. Friday's face-off against the Minutemen is scheduled for 6:45 pm.
