The Black Bears looked impressive in its first game back, starting its’ second half of the season with a huge win.

The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team (5-6-1 Hockey East; 7-7-2 overall) dismantled Clarkson University, 6-1, after Brian Flynn paved the way with a three-point first period, moving past the Golden Knights into the championship round of the Florida College Classic Tournament.

Flynn scored the first goal of the game, setting the tone for his team just minutes into the first period by beating Clarkson’s starting netminder Cody Rosen through the legs.

Black Bears’ defenseman Ryan Hegarty followed Flynn’s lead and scored the second goal of the period as he fired the puck through traffic, beating Rosen to give Maine an early 2-0 lead over the Golden Knights. Joey Diamond and Brian Flynn each picked up an assist on the game-winning goal.

Maine’s third unanswered goal came when Spencer Abbott found some open ice with a 4-on-4 opportunity and launched the puck over Rosen from the left-circle, bringing the total to 3-0 over Clarkson.

In the second period, the scoring continued for the Black Bears when Adam Shemansky found the back of the net early into the second period, after the goal Clarkson coach Casey Jones replaced Rosen for Ritchie LaVeau.

Later in the period, Maine’s Mark Anthoine scored a short-handed goal to elevate his team to a 5-0 lead over Clarkson as the Black Bears’ ability to quickly transition down the ice on an odd-man rush over whelmed LaVeau.

LaVeau is the third goaltender on Clarkson’s depth chart, but found himself in the net since Paul Karpowich could not make the trip to Florida due to an illness. Karpowich has played every minute in net for his team this season with a (9-7-4) record.

In the third period, Diamond really put the game out of reach for the Golden Knights, with the Black Bears sixth unanswered goal.

Clarkson was able to foil Dan Sullivan’s shutout with its fourth line as Louke Oakley redirected the puck off a slapshot from Alex Boak into the goal, beating Sullivan late in the third period.

Sullivan finished the night with 18 saves and was named the game’s second star.

Both teams finished the night with an even amount of penalties and minutes. The Golden Knights blanked on the power play chances going 0-for-7, while Maine was able to capitalize on 2-for-7.

The Black Bears will face either No. 13 Cornell or the University of Massachusetts in the Championship round at 7:35pm Saturday night.