ORONO – Senior goalies Lara Smart of Maine and Chanda Gunn of Northeastern have had some terrific duels during their careers.

One day after battling to a 1-1 overtime tie, Smart got the upper hand Sunday as she made 19 saves to edge Gunn and the Huskies 2-1 and propel the Bears into sole possession of first place in Hockey East.

Maine is 5-7-3 overall, 4-1-1 in Hockey East. Northeastern fell to 7-4-3, 1-3-2 respectively.

Smart made 14 saves off Grade-A (high-percentage) shots on goal while Gunn finished with 23 saves, including 17 off Grade-A shots.

Senior left wing Karen Droog’s second-period goal and freshman left wing Sonia Corriveau’s goal 1:09 into the third period provided Maine with a 2-0 lead before NU sophomore right wing Cyndy Kenyon scored with 9:28 remaining.

“Lara is awesome. She always pulls through for us at the end,” said Maine senior right wing Naomi Smethurst.

“She’s a very hard goaltender to read,” said Kenyon. “You don’t know whether to shoot high or low. She fills up a lot of the net. She’s really tall. She’s a really good goaltender.”

“I thought I played pretty good,” said the 5-foot-11 Smart. “That one goal went between my arm and my body but we still won.”

Smart added that she has great respect for her counterpart, calling Gunn a “really good goalie.”

“Both teams had some great opportunities today. Maine was able to capitalize on one more than we did,” said NU coach Joy Woog.

Gunn, playing her first weekend series after missing more than a month with a knee injury, set the tone for the game by robbing Tristan Desmet and Kate Sunstrum with her right pad in the game’s opening moments.

Droog put Maine ahead 9:19 into the middle period off a two-on-one with Meagan Aarts, whose shot was kicked out by Gunn.

Droog fought her way to the front of the net and slid a 16-foot backhander inside the far post.

“I was getting pushed around and had to dive for the puck. I hit it when I was already on my knees. I was pretty lucky it went in,” said Droog.

Corriveau scored for the second straight game after a nice rush by Brigitte Laflamme was broken up when two defensemen tied her up, leaving a loose puck to Gunn’s right near the extended goal line.

“It was kind of an impossible angle but it went in,” said the speedy Corriveau, who swept it in.

“The puck got caught up in someone’s skates and I thought it went behind the net. But it was on the side of the net and she threw it behind me. I hadn’t gotten back to my post. I didn’t even see it,” said Gunn.

Kenyon gave the youthful Huskies some life by converting a pass from Stephanie Wood off a two-on-one.

But they couldn’t get the equalizer as Maine killed off two power plays in the final 9:13.

NU had 17 freshmen and sophomores in the lineup.

On Saturday, Corriveau had staked Maine to a lead late in the second period off a Steranko assist but Wood equalized off a Theresa Ella assist 7:02 into the third period.

Smart made 27 saves and Gunn stopped 25.

BLACK BEARS 2, HUSKIES 1

Northeastern (7-4-3) 0 0 1 – 1

Maine (5-7-3) 0 1 1 – 2

First period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Law, body checking, 9:25; Maine, White, cross-checking, 12:57; NU, Coppney, boarding, 18:56

Second period – 1. Maine, Droog 5 (Aarts, Johnstone), 9:19. Penalties: NU, Wood, body checking, 4:30; NU, Kenyon, interference, 10:31; NU, Mucci, delay of game and 10-minute misconduct, 15:06

Third period – 2. Maine, Corriveau 5 (Steranko, Laflamme), 1:09; 3. NU, Kenyon 5 (Wood), 10:32. Penalties: NU, Kenyon, contact to the head, 4:13; Maine, Aarts, body checking, 7:36; Maine, Law, contact to the head, 10:47; NU, Rochon, contact to the head, 10:54; Maine, Janusc, high sticking, 17:35

Shots on goal: NU 4-8-8-20; Maine 8-11-6-25

Goaltenders: NU, Gunn (25 shots-23 saves); Maine, Smart (20-19)

Power-play opportunities: NU 0 of 5; Maine 0 of 6

High-percentage scoring chances: NU 3-7-8-18; Maine 10-14-6-30

Attendance: 125