ORONO – Freshman defenseman Bryan Plaszcz made his University of Maine men’s hockey debut a memorable one Friday night.

Plaszcz’s goal with just 7:10 remaining gave the Black Bears some badly needed insurance as Maine collected a hard-fought 3-1 win over an impressive Alabama-Huntsville Charger team and standout senior goaltender Scott Munroe at Alfond Arena.

Maine improved to 4-1 while Alabama-Huntsville, the preseason coaches poll choice to win College Hockey America, was playing its opener.

The teams will play again Saturday night at 7.

Second-period goals by Keith Johnson and Michel Leveille staked the Bears to a 2-0 lead but Mike Salekin pulled the Chargers within one just 2:56 into the third period.

Plaszcz’s goal on a four-on-four was the result of a sustained forecheck generated by Josh Soares, Jon Jankus and Travis Ramsey.

Plaszcz came out of the corner to the left of Munroe and took a quick wrister from a difficult angle that glanced in off the body of Munroe.

“Jankus did a good job getting the puck out to me. I took a couple steps off the [extended] goal line, took a shot and it went in. I figured even if it didn’t go in, there would be a rebound,” said Plaszcz.

Plaszcz said he was so nervous he was shaking during pre-game warmups but “once the game started, I was good to go.”

Maine senior defenseman Steve Mullin said, “He could have had four tonight. He was all over the place. What a great first game.”

Munroe said one of his defensemen lost his stick and they were hemmed in.

“I couldn’t get my feet squared up. His shot went five-hole,” said Munroe.

Maine freshman goalie Ben Bishop preserved the two-goal lead by stacking his pads and robbing David Nimmo, who broke in unattended down the right wing with 4:19 remaining.

“I saw he was a righthand shot so I gave him the top corner short side,” said Bishop, who guessed correctly.

“He stacked the pads and I just didn’t lift it over them. It hit the top of his pad,” said Nimmo.

Bishop was tremendous over the final 1:47 as well as Alabama-Huntsville had a two-man advantage and then pulled Munroe for a six-on-three with 41 seconds remaining.

Bishop snared Jeremy Schreiber’s one-timer from the right circle with 20 seconds left.

Maine junior defenseman Mike Lundin was also an important presence on that last penalty kill as he made three crucial clearances.

“Mike played a great game,” said Bishop.

Derek Damon created the first goal by digging the puck out behind the net, coming out to the right of Munroe and stickhandling until the last possible moment before throwing a wrister on net.

Johnson fought through a crowded goalmouth to score his first of the season.

“I took a backhander and it squirted through his legs,” said Johnson.

Leveille made it 2-0 on a five-on-three as freshman defenseman Matt Duffy slid a soft pass over to him at the top of the circle to Munroe’s left and he one-timed a low slapper that skipped between Munroe’s pads after getting a piece of the goalie’s stick.

Salekin supplied the Chargers with some energy as he took the rebound of a Shaun Arvai shot that was blocked and fired a 45-footer through a maze of players over Bishop’s shoulder.

“A guy cut in front of me at the last moment,” said Bishop.

The Chargers had the momentum and buzzed the Maine net looking for the equalizer only to have Bishop make some timely stops.

Maine outshot Alabama-Huntsville 37-21, including a 26-12 edge over the first two periods.

“We progressively got better,” said UAH coach Doug Ross. “We didn’t have as many chances as they did but we had enough to win. We’ve got to fake our shots more to get him [Bishop] moving.”

Mullin said the Bears expected a difficult test against the Chargers, especially in light of the 2-2 tie and 1-0 win over them two years ago.

“Nothing comes easy,” said Mullin.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead called it a “tough, hard-fought game. There’s no quit in them.”

Munroe was immense in the first two periods, twice deflecting away Greg Moore rebounds at the last possible second.

BLACK BEARS 3, CHARGERS 1

Ala.-Huntsville (0-1) 0 0 1 – 1

Maine (4-1) 0 2 1 – 3

First period – No scoring; Penalties: Maine, Bellamy, obstruction interference, 4:59; UAH, Arvai, contact to head roughing, 15:19; UAH, Bentley, tripping, 17:16; Maine, Bellamy, cross-checking, 20:00

Second period – 1. Maine, Johnson 1 (Wight, Damon), 8:53; 2. Maine, Leveille 3 (Duffy, Moore), 16:56 (pp); Penalties: UAH, Schreiber, holding, 3:36; Maine, Ryan, roughing, 7:22; UAH, Reagan, roughing, 7:22; UAH, bench, too many men on ice (served by Canter), 9:30; UAH, Selinger, obstruction interference, 16:03; UAH, Kalinchuk, obstruction tripping, 16:23

Third period – 3. UAH, Salekin 1 (Arvai, Salinger), 2:56; 4. Maine, Plaszcz 1 (Jankus, Soares), 12:50; Penalties: UAH, Salekin, obstruction interference, 6:14; UAH, Canter, slashing, 8:40; UAH, Martini, holding, 11:23; UAH, Laise, unsportsmanlike conduct, game disqualification, 11:23; Maine, Plaszcz, slashing, 17:55; Maine, Wight, tripping, 18:13

Shots on goal: UAH 5-7-9-21; Maine 14-12-11-37

Goaltenders: UAH, Munroe (37 shots-34 saves); Maine, Bishop (21-20)

Power-play opportunities: UAH 0 of 3; Maine 1 of 8

High-percentage scoring chances: UAH 0-2-8-10; Maine 7-13-7-27

Attendance: 5,641