BURLINGTON, Vt. – Tom Zabkowicz and Josh Soares were caught in a numbers game last season and didn’t play during the University of Maine’s Hockey East semifinal and championship games or their four NCAA Tournament contests.

But the sophomores were in the lineup in Sunday’s opener and scored the first two goals during a four-goal first period that carried the Black Bears to a 7-1 win over Vermont at the Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Each also contributed an assist and all five Maine freshmen made a contribution. Left wing Keenan Hopson had a goal and an assist; defenseman Tim Maxwell notched two assists; left wing Billy Ryan, who was cleared to play by the NCAA on Friday, had a goal; and right wing Rob Bellamy picked up an assist.

The other freshman, goalie Matt Lundin, played the final 4:39 and stopped all four shots he faced.

Sophomore defenseman Evan Stoflet scored for Vermont in the third period.

Linemates Soares, senior center Ben Murphy and senior right wing John Ronan had a goal and an assist apiece and Greg Moore had the other goal while Derek Damon and Mat Deschamps had two assists apiece.

Co-captain Ronan said the line was put together last week and “we clicked right away.”

Soares, who didn’t play in the final 10 games last season, said it was “definitely a good feeling” to have a productive first game and gain some confidence.

His goal came off a rebound of a Maxwell shot from the point that occurred courtesy of a Bellamy pass.

“The puck went off his [Vermont goalie Travis Russell] pad, I picked it up, walked around him and slid it low and right in,” said Soares, who made it 2-0 with 8:59 left in the period.

Zabkowicz had opened the scoring just two minutes into the game with a wrist shot from the top of the circle to the left of Russell.

Zabkowicz said he was “pretty blind” when he took the shot because his mask was out of position and his hair had fallen into his eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to score, I was just trying to put the shot on net,” said Zabkowicz, whose wrister beat Russell to the short (glove) side.

Zabkowicz said he is happy to be playing up front “because we have nine solid defenseman and it was going to be tough to crack the lineup. I love it up front.”

Hopson and Murphy expanded the lead to 4-0 in the final 2:23.

Hopson cut through the slot and redirected a Deschamps wrister from the point past Russell and Murphy scored with six seconds left in the period when his power-play wrister from the right circle deflected off a Vermont defenseman’s stick and over Russell’s glove.

Maine outshot Vermont 18-6 in the first period.

The Catamounts played much better in the second period and carried the play only to be thwarted by second-team All-American junior goalie Jimmy Howard, who set NCAA single-season records for goals-against average (1.19) and save percentage last year.

Against the run of play, Ryan extended the lead to 5-0 at the expense of freshman goalie Joe Fallon with four seconds remaining in the second period.

Damon made a creative move to get past a Vermont defenseman and get off a shot. Fallon made the save and stopped a Damon followup before Ryan swept home the rebound.

“Coach [Tim Whitehead] told me to go to the net hard,” said Ryan.

Stoflet made it 5-1 8:52 into the third period with a power- play wrister from the right circle that squeezed in off Howard, then Ronan scored when Murphy’s shot deflected in off his thigh and Moore jammed home a Jon Jankus rebound.

“It was a deceptive score,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead, who expects Vermont to be a good team this season. “The key was getting off to a good start. Jimmy [Howard] was sharp and we got contributions from everybody.”

Zabkowicz said based on the captains’ practices, he expected the freshmen to play well and they did.

“They all fit in,” said Zabkowicz.

Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon thought his team worked hard “but the better team won tonight. They’re a very good hockey club.”

Vermont defenseman and captain Jaime Sifers said Maine was “very consistent with the way they play their systems. They play them very well. They got good position in the slot and we able to score with some quick shots from there.”

Maine went 3-for-7 on the power play and outshot the Catamounts 35-27.

Howard finished with 22 saves and has now held opponents to one goal or less in nine of his last 10 starts.

BLACK BEARS 7, CATAMOUNTS 1

Maine (1-0) 4 1 2 – 7

Vermont (0-1) 0 0 1 – 1

First period – 1. Maine, Zabkowicz 1 (Damon, Hopson), 2:00; 2. Maine, Soares 1 (Bellamy, Maxwell), 11:01; 3. Maine, Hopson 1 (Deschamps, Zabkowicz), 17:37; 4. Maine, Murphy 1 (Ronan, Soares), 19:54 (pp). Penalties: UVM, Mitchell, contact with the goalie, 3:10; Maine, Murphy, hitting after the whistle, 3:10; UVM, Leisenring, hitting after the whistle, 3:10; Maine, Hamilton, holding, 4:02; UVM, Myers, hooking, 4:53; Maine, Deschamps, interference, 8:22; UVM, Femenella, charging, 11:25; Maine, Jankus, obstruction-holding, 15:17; UVM, Gasparini, holding, 18:11; Maine, Damon, cross checking, 20:00

Second period – 5. Maine, Ryan 1 (Damon), 19:56. Penalties: Maine, Hamilton, obstruction-hooking, 1:20; UVM, Mifsud, obstruction-cross checking, 2:55; Maine, Mushaluk, holding, 7:21; Maine, Damon, hitting after the whistle, 11:46; UVM, Lutz, hitting after the whistle, 11:46; Maine, Bellamy, high sticking, 15:47

Third period – 6. UVM, Stoflet 1 (Corey, Wagar), 8:52 (pp); 7. Maine, Ronan 1 (Murphy, Deschamps), 11:59 (pp); 8. Maine, Moore 1 (Jankus, Maxwell), 16:25 (pp). Penalties: Maine, Zabkowicz, high sticking, 5:26; Maine, Mullin, hooking, 7:04; UVM, Leisenring, boarding, 11:01; Maine, Hopson, tripping, 12:34; Maine, Damon, hitting after the whistle, 13:06; UVM, Mifsud, hitting after the whistle, 13:06; UVM, Stoflet, holding, 15:40; UVM, Macauley, cross checking, 16:06; Maine, Soares, roughing, 16:06

Shots on goal: Maine 18-5-12-35; UVM 6-9-12-27

Goaltenders: Maine, Howard (23 shots-22 saves), Ma. Lundin (4-4, 15:21 of 3rd); UVM, Russell (18-14), Fallon (17-14)

Power-play Opportunities: Maine 3 of 7, UVM 1 of 9

High-percentage scoring chances: Maine 8-5-8-21; UVM 5-8-5-18

Attendance: 4,003