MARINERS HANG TEN ON ADMIRALS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE

PORTLAND, ME – April 16, 2023 – The Maine Mariners capped off the regular season in style on Sunday afternoon at the Cross Insurance Arena, setting a new franchise best for goals in a game, as they defeated the Norfolk Admirals by a final score of 10-2. Tyler Hinam, Mitch Fossier, and Alex-Olivier Voyer each scored a pair of goals to lead the offensive onslaught.

The Mariners scored a pair of goals late in the opening period to open a 2-0 lead. At 15:35 of the 1st, Tyler Hinam, despite being slashed down to the ice, was able to slide a pass across to Reid Stefanson for a one-timer past Tomas Vomacka. Under two minutes later, it was a nifty toe drag pass from Cam Askew to Carter Johnson to double the Maine lead at 17:32.

Marc-Olivier Duquette crashed the net to clean up a shot from Alex-Olivier Voyer at 2:30 of the 2nd to make it a 3-0 game. At 5:22, Mitch Fossier stole one away from Admirals defenseman Josh McDougall right in front of the Norfolk net, scoring an unassisted goal and increasing the lead to four. With the teams skating 4-on-4, Hinam took a tight pass from Matt Filipe and backhanded home a goal at 14:01 to make it 5-0. The Mariners registered 24 shots in the middle frame, a season-high for a single period.

The goals came early and often in the third. Alex-Oliver Voyer tipped home a slot shot from Tim Doherty at 2:05 to make it a 6-0 game, before Norfolk finally got on the board at 3:50 on a goal from Mathieu Roy. Hinam netted his second of the game at 5:18 of the third, with Filipe finding him driving to the net on a feed from the left boards. Less than a minute late, Fossier got another, taking advantage of a puck that Vomacka couldn’t squeeze. Right off a faceoff at 7:51, Cam Askew instantly fired one home to make it 9-1. Norfolk got one back at 14:59 when Griffin Lunn was able to deflect a shot out of midair. On the power play in the final minute of the game, the Mariners got goal number ten when Vomacka attempted to clear the puck down the middle and turned it over to Voyer, who slapped it into the empty net.

Francois Brassard stopped 31 of 33 to earn the win while Vomacka made 37 saves on 47 Mariners shots. The Mariners had scored nine goals on three previous occasions, including earlier this season in a 9-3 victory over Worcester on December 28th. This was the first time they’ve reached ten.

The Mariners finished the 2022-23 regular season with a record of 42-27-2-1 and 87 points, setting team records for points and wins. They finished third of seven teams in the North Division – also their highest finish ever. They will meet the Reading Royals in the first round of the Kelly Cup Playoffs – the North Division Semifinals, with Game 1 of the best-of-seven series set for Friday in Reading. Game time is 7 PM and will be broadcast live on the FloHockey and Mixlr, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 PM.