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Just 18 hours after posting an epic 5-4 overtime victory against Minnesota the night before, the UMaine men’s hockey team skated onto the ice Saturday night in Worcester to face Boston College with a Frozen Four berth hanging in the balance.
The Black Bears survived an early flurry and pushed the Eagles to the limit before a pair of third period BC goals ended Maine’s incredible run, 3-1.
“We refused to be tired,” said UMaine coach Shawn Walsh after the game. “We did everything we could but score the second goal. I thought we played a whale of a game and lost to a great team that’s been there all year.”
Boston College (31-8-2) moves on to Albany and a NCAA semifinal matchup with Michigan. It’s the Eagles’ fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance and it wasn’t earned without some trepidation.
“It’s extremely hot out there,” said winning BC goalie Scott Clemmensen (29 saves), referring to the Centrum Centre ice conditions. “Going as late as they did last night, I couldn’t believe the amount of intensity that they had coming out after that.”
Clemmensen’s reference was to Maine’s last second comeback and eventual overtime victory over Minnesota, a game that was tiring to watch, much less play.
The East Regional semifinal with BC began as the previous night’s matchup had, with the Black Bears on the ropes.
The Eagles came out rested having received a bye and immediately took the play to Maine. Only the sensational goaltending of Matt Yeats, who finished the night with 23 saves, kept BC off the scoreboard.
In the second period, it was Clemmensen’s turn. The Black Bears suddenly sprang into action, regaining the territorial advantage and pressuring the Eagle net. But Clemmensen was equal to the task and the game went into the final period a scoreless tie.
A carryover penalty on Maine gave BC a power play to start the final period and the Eagles capitalized just 35 seconds in. Senior defenseman Bobby Allen took a shot from the right point that Yeats stopped, but Jeff Guiliano rapped in the rebound for a 1-0 Boston College lead.
The goal sent the Eagle fans into hysteria while the Maine contingent sat in stunned silence. Surely, this was the beginning of the end. But anyone who’s watched this Black Bear club all season understands that Maine views adversity not as an enemy, but a linemate.
With the BC fans still in the middle of travel plans, Michael Schutte took a Martin Kariya feed in the slot and deked Clemmensen, stuffing it behind the BC netminder to tie the game and force the Eagle fans to press “End” on their cellphones.
But at the period’s midpoint Eagle super-frosh Chuck Kobasew snapped a knuckling wrister from the right point through a Krys Kolanos screen to give BC a 2-1 lead.
“I didn’t see the shot at all,” admitted Yeats. “I didn’t see him take the shot, I heard it. My natural instinct was to drop and take as much of the net as I could. It just grazed my shoulder and went top shelf.”
Maine rallied briefly, but the comeback attempt was thwarted late in the period when Francis Nault was sent to the box for holding and, moments later, Matthias Trattnig was sent off for tripping. The latter call was controversial and resulted in an animated protest from Walsh for which he was assessed a bench minor by referee Jeff Piotrowski. Walsh continued to press his case and Piotrowski ejected Walsh from the game.
“All I said was `Let the players decide the game,’” said Walsh. “I was extremely disappointed because that shouldn’t be a bench penalty.”
Forced to skate two men down in the waning minutes, any hope of a Maine comeback was stifled. With just over two minutes remaining, Rob Scuderi one-timed a shot from the slot past Yeats for insurance and the Eagle victory was assured.
Maine captain and All-Tournament defensive selection Doug Janik wasn’t making excuses.
“We’ve got probably 20 of the most mentally tough players that you could have on a team,” said Janik. “We came into this game with the feeling that we wouldn’t lose our legs no matter what and I think it showed out there.”
Maine finishes the season at 20-12-7, and with the respect of BC coach Jerry York.
“I think Maine really battled some adversity going that late last night,” said York. “They had to fight through what was almost sleep deprivation.”
The Friday night East Region quarterfinal is another Maine NCAA playoff game that will join the growing list of classics.
Minnesota skated onto the Worcester Centrum Centre ice at full throttle. They challenged Yeats, who finished the night with 40 saves, early and often. At the 7:44 mark Dan Kerluke was sent off for hooking and six seconds later the Gophers power play, ranked second in the nation, struck.
Minnesota’s Eric Westrum gathered the puck after the ensuing faceoff and snapped a shot on Yeats, who couldn’t control the rebound. Gopher forward John Pohl banged away at the rebound until he squeezed it by Yeats for a 1-0 Minnesota lead.
Maine countered with 5.6 seconds remaining in the period when a Robert Liscak feed sent freshman Todd Jackson in alone. Jackson’s backhander beat Gopher goalie Adam Hauser (34 saves) and the teams went to the first break tied at one.
Minnesota’s Grant Potulny and Black Bear forward Lucas Lawson swapped second period goals before Janik gave Maine its first lead with a power play goal three minutes into the final period.
Potulny answered four minutes later with a power play tally of his own. Two minutes after that Westrum batted his own rebound behind Yeats for a 4-3 Gopher lead. The goal was disputed but after a brief review it was allowed, setting up a wild finishing sequence.
As the period drew to a close, Maine began taking chances and in the process left Yeats on an island. The junior came up big, stopping breakaway attempts by Jeff Taffe and Aaron Miscovich.
With just inside a minute remaining, Gopher forward Paul Martin was sent to the box and Walsh pulled Yeats, giving the Black Bears a 6 on 4 advantage with the Black Bear net unprotected.
Maine pressed and as the clock ticked down the final seconds Niko Dimitrakos ripped a shot from the circle that Hauser stopped with his pads. Martin Kariya, positioned in front of Hauser, collected the puck with every Black Bear fan shouting “shoot.” Kariya calmly pulled the puck back and shoveled it across the crease to Schutte who tapped it past Hauser with 2.7 seconds remaining to tie the game.
“Kariya just made a great unselfish play,” said Walsh. “Nault, then Niko and then Kariya- none of them panicked with the puck inside the last 10 seconds.”
After 13 minutes of play in overtime, Jackson broke down the right wing boards and slipped inside the Minnesota zone, letting go a slapshot that Hauser knocked down.
For a moment, it appeared that Hauser would freeze the puck in lieu of a faceoff but, inexplicably, he chose to play it and in doing so mishandled the clearing attempt.
Hauser’s partial whiff ended up on Liscak’s stick and the sophomore wasted little time in sending it past the stunned Gopher netminder as the arena erupted.
“I was pressuring the puck because we wanted the faceoff in our offensive end,” said Liscak. “He played the puck right onto my stick, I had nothing else to do but shoot it in the net.”
“Our guys have faced adversity all season,” said Walsh after the game. “This is the fourth time we’ve come from behind in the third period to tie the game and win it in overtime. You could’ve put us on life support in early February.”
So it is that another great season of hockey ends for the Maine men’s program. This one without a Frozen Four appearance but is nonetheless memorable for a variety of other reasons.
Distractions and injuries robbed this team of their full potential. These things happen in sports. Most teams pack it in at some point and play for the next year. Not this team. The 2000-01 Maine Black Bears legacy will be the very definition of character. A season that began with uncertainty and expectation was closed out with dignity and pride.
Bangor Daily News