Tyriq Outen saw a lot of rubber.
The 20-year-old Maine Nordiques goalie made 49 saves in 65 minutes of play and stopped all three Johnstown shots in the shootout as the Nordiques came away with a 3-2 win at the 1st Summit Arena at Cambria County War Memorial in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.
“He’s unbelievable. He gives us a chance to win every time he’s back there, he stayed calm and composed,” Nordiques coach Nolan Howe said. “We made it harder on him than we should have, but we have a lot of faith in Tyriq (Outen).”
Stefan Owens scored the lone shootout goal to give Maine the victory.
The win is the first in Johnstown in the two-year history of the Maine Nordiques.
The Nordiques started the game strong and built a 2-0 lead in the first 20 minutes of the game.
Auburn native Reese Farrell gave the Nordiques a 1-0 lead in the first period when he finished off a feed from Tyler Gaulin.
In the final minute of the first period, Jack Strauss’ goal put the Nordiques up by two heading into the first intermission. James Philpott and Isaiah Fox had the helpers on the goal.
Both Farrell and Strauss scored in both games last weekend when the Nordiques swept the Northeast Generals 6-2 and 3-2.
“Those guys continue to put the puck into the net, and we were opportunistic with our chances and buried them,” Howe said. “We don’t care who scores as long as we have one more than they do. At the end of the day, we were able to do that.”
The Tomahawks found the scoreboard in the second period on a goal by Jay Ahearn, the lone goal of the frame.
Dominic Schimizzi found the back of the net for Johnstown to tie the game at 2-2 early in the third.
Howe and the Maine coaching staff didn’t panic when the Tomahawks tied the game.
“We have an undeniable faith in the young men standing in front of us,” Howe said. “Both of their goals came off funny bounces, we had sticks on both of them and they bounced into the next. We did not shake our commitment and we stuck with it.”
The Tomahawks didn’t capitalize on any of their several power plays, going 0-for-8 while Maine was 0-for-3.
Sam Evola was strong in the crease for Johnstown, making 28 saves in the contest.
The Nordiques will try to sweep the weekend series Saturday.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.