A pair of second half goals proved to be the difference as Northeastern downed the University of Maine, 3-1, at Alumni Field in Orono, Maine.

The Huskies improved to 5-6-0, 2-2-0 in America East. The loss dropped the Black Bears to 2-5-1 overall with a 0-2-0 record in league play.

NU struck first on Chris Beston's goal in the 40th minute. Beston headed a shot by Anders Hoyem, deflecting it over UMaine keeper Mat Cosgriff.

Pettar Starnas increased the Northeastern lead to 2-0 in the 53rd minute, with a blast into the lower right corner of the Black Bear goal off a feed by Hoyem. Ben Collins made the score 3-0 in the Huskies' favor with a shot just inside the near post in the game's 77th minute.

Senior Russell Hutchison ended the Northeastern shutout bid with a goal in the 89th minute. Hutchison took a pass from Rob Dow and rocketed a shot into the right side of the Husky goal.

The Black Bears outshot Northeastern 22-16 over the course of the game, and had seven corner kick opportunities to the Huskies' four. Cosgriff made three saves in the UMaine goal, with defender Jason Skilling making a pair of defender saves. Allan Lewis and Matt Alexander shared the goalkeeping duties for the Huskies, with Lewis collecting three saves and Alexander making two stops. Northeastern's Omar Thiam was also credited with a defender save.

In a game played under a steady drizzle, Northeastern and UMaine battled in what was often an extremely physical game. The two teams were whistled for a total of 50 fouls, and four players were shown yellow cards.

SCORING SUMMARY:
39:55 -- Chris Beston (NU), from Anders Hoyem
52:15 -- Pettar Starnas (NU), from Anders Hoyem
76:20 -- Ben Collins (NU), from Blair Carroll
88:24 -- Russell Hutchison (UMaine), from Rob Dow

Shots: Northeastern 16, UMaine 22
Corner Kicks: Northeastern 4, UMaine 7
Saves: Northeastern 6 (Allan Lewis 3, Matt Alexander 2, defender Omar Thiam 1), UMaine 5 (Mat Cosgriff 3, defender Jason Skilling 2)