ORONO — That’s what Owen Fowler was looking for when he entered the transfer portal: a place where he could score a goal and sell out a packed arena, as he did in the first half of the Friday night game for the University of Maine. men’s hockey team against Boston University.

Fowler’s short-handed goal at 5:12 of the first period ignited the 4,807 fans at Alfond Arena, as well as his teammates, setting the tone for Maine’s 5-2 victory. In the third period, Fowler added an empty-net goal to cap off the victory.

“That adds to that the fan base and how crazy they are here. It’s easy to get up for a game here at Alfond,” Fowler said.

Four of Maine’s five goals came from players who joined the program via the transfer portal, underscoring a point they’ve often made in jumping to a 7-2-1 start in 10 games: The transfer portal has been good for coach Ben Barr and the Black Bears.

In addition to Fowler’s two goals, sophomore defenseman Frank Djurasevic, who joined the Black Bears after playing at Merrimack last season, scored, as did Harrison Scott, a senior center who came to Maine last season. last after playing at Bentley. Charlie Russell, who came to Maine this season after playing at Clarkson, was credited with an assist.

Six of the players who took the ice for Maine came to Orono via the transfer portal. Scott leads the team with six goals and 10 assists. Russell has three goals and nine assists. Maine newcomer Taylor Makar via UMass has four goals and six assists. Ross Mitton, who joined Maine this season after four seasons at Colgate, has two goals and three assists.

When navigating the transfer portal, Barr first looks for players who will embrace Maine’s culture of working every shift, not eye-popping stats.

“We’re looking for guys who can come in and work hard, because that’s what we have here. We have a lot of hard workers. The cultural element is much bigger than if you look at the statistics,” Barr said. “You can see what the guys have done and watch videos of them, but you don’t know them as a person. As people, they all fit together.

That’s what Scott was looking for when he decided to change schools last year.

“It was just an organization that has a good culture. At the time, Maine was pretty promising. Barr came here two years before me and talked about putting Maine back on the map. The most important thing for me was being around like-minded guys,” Scott said. “I just think it’s the hard-nosed players who are going to work hard and do things the right way. A lot of guys on our team play that 200-foot game. They buy into what we do here.

Scott’s goal came just before the end of the second period and was Maine’s second goal on a 5-on-3 power play in the final 30 seconds of the period. After Thomas Freel scored at 19:30 to increase the Black Bears’ lead to 3-0, Scott’s goal made it 4-0 at the end of the period. Officials examined the goal to make sure it was in the net before the horn sounded. It was, with 0.1 seconds remaining.

“I knew it was before the buzzer. I didn’t know how close it was. It was definitely a lot closer than I thought. I saw him come in, then I heard the buzzer. I was going to be really disappointed if they called him back,” Scott said.

Fowler’s shorthanded goal came at 5:13 of the first period. A turnover in the neutral zone resulted in the puck on Fowler’s stick at the blue line. The junior skated in alone, firing a shot from the right circle past Terriers goaltender Max Lacroix to take a 1-0 lead.

Fowler added his empty-netter at 18:17 of the third.

“Alfie (assistant coach Alfie Michaud) does a great job with the video and showing us their power play. I just tried to read the room and go for it, and luckily it went in,” he said.

Fowler had five goals and seven assists in 33 games at UMass Lowell in 2022-23, but missed all of last season with a broken kneecap. Once he knew he wanted a fresh start at a new school, Maine moved to the top of Fowler’s list.

“It’s a great team. I was looking for a great culture. As soon as I talked to (Maine), I had heard a lot about it and knew a few guys that were coming. It was definitely what I was looking for,” he said.

Barr said success in the transfer portal varies from season to season. This season, it seems like every newcomer he’s brought in is the right fit for a team looking to build on the success of last season, in which Maine advanced to the state tournament. NCAA for the first time in a dozen years.

“We’re obviously lucky with the guys we have this year. I think we knew what we were getting. Sometimes we don’t always know. Not just on the ice, but off the ice as well,” Barr said.

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