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Providence, R.I. – Bust out the record books – there’s a new streak to register.
However, this one is nothing to celebrate.
On Friday, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey squad dropped their third straight decision with a 4-2 loss to Providence. The defeat marked the first time in three years that the Black Bears had suffered a trio of connective losses. Despite a brief comeback attempt in the third period, the Black Bears fell to a high-flying Friar squad, who dominated the opening 40 minutes.
“It’s a long season, there are going to be a lot of ups and downs” said UMaine head coach Tim Whitehead. “We’re in a down period right, it’s unfortunate but at the same time if we can capture that attitude we had in the third period and bottle it, than something special can happen to this team.”
Anchored by the play of Torry Gajda, who recorded two goals on the night, the Friars stormed to their Hockey East leading seventh victory. With the upset of the seventh-ranked Black Bears, Providence moves to 7-6-1 overall and 7-2-1 in conference competition.
“We’re not afraid of anybody,” said Gajda. “It’s almost like we’re playing as if we got nothing to lose.”
Netminder Tyler Sims believes the victory will finally propel the Friars into the limelight.
“Anytime you get a win against Maine, a national power, it’s huge,” said Sims. “Now that we beat a nationally ranked top ten team, I think people are going to be talking about us.”
For UMaine, the defeat represents a disappointing downward spiral in the last 31 days. Since Nov. 4, the Black Bears are 2-4-0 after starting out 8-1-0. Even more depressing, the loss drops UMaine to 4-4-0 in conference play.
“We don’t do the things the coaches ask of us and it just needs to be addressed and the team needs to be re-focused,” said senior captain Greg Moore. “We have to focus on our work ethic, our attitude on the bench, our attitude off the ice and come out make sure we play as hard as we can.”
Overall, the Black Bears are 9-5-0 and still waiting for that elusive 10th victory.
Although the Black Bears cited poor play on their part they had high praise for their opponent.
“They are confident, they play together, they work hard for 60 minutes, they believe in their coach’s system, and they do what they are told,” said Moore. “Basically they outwork their opponent.”
The Black Bears’ undoing came just five minutes into the second period when Gajda pushed a short-handed goal past UMaine goalie Ben Bishop. The goal put Providence up 2-1, a lead which they would not surrender.
On the ensuing play, Gajda ripped the puck free from John Hopson below the centerline and proceeded to skate in freely on Bishop. With Tony Zancanaro by his side and Bishop five feet in front of him, Gadja deked to right only to pull the puck to Bishop’s left.
The move gave Gadja enough time to sneak the puck past an extended Bishop, who nearly had his toe on it.
The goal came at 5:11 of the second.
Exactly nine minutes later, the Friars had all but eliminated UMaine from the game. Again it was Gajda delivering the damage, when he jammed home a close rebound.
“There were three people whacking at it and I was just the one to sneak it in,” said Gadja.
The puck bounced free to Gadja after an intial 2-on-0 save by Bishop. Assists were earned by Jon Rheault and Chase Watson on the tally.
“I thought they seized the momentum a couple times in the game,” said Whitehead. “They are playing with a lot of enthusiasm, as I knew they would.”
The Friars continued to outplay UMaine for the remainder of the period, outshooting them 15 to 7. Coupled with the first period, the Friars had outshot the Black Bears 27 to 17 in the first two periods.
“We knew they worked hard, we just didn’t come to play the first two periods,” said Damon. “It’s become a little trait of ours and we got to snap out of it.”
Sophomore Billy Ryan felt the difference was in the Black Bears’ intensity.
“I don’t think it was much of what they were doing, it was just that we weren’t focused,” said Ryan. “We kind of fell apart, we had a lapse there for awhile.”
Those struggles continued for UMaine in the opening minutes of the third period, when Jamie Carroll pounced on a huge rebound.
With the puck having seconds early rattled off the iron, Carrol rammed home the shot. Colin McDonald and Chase Watson picked up assists on the play. The goal came on the power play.
“I think they were surprised by us,” said PC senior captain Tony Zancanaro. “I think a lot of teams are surprised by us this year.”
After the goal, the Black Bears replaced Bishop with sophomore Matt Lundin. Bishop finished the game with 27 saves in 43:03 minutes.
After the game, Whitehead commented on Bishop’s rough night.
“I thought he was okay,” said Whitehead. “He’s not playing at his best right now.”
“He’s a freshman, it’s just a learning experience for him,” said Ryan. “I am not worried about him at all, he did a good job, we only put two goals up. We have got to do a better job.”
Whitehead was, however, enthusiastic about the play of Lundin in his 15:45 minutes.
“I thought Matt Lundin was fabulous and he’ll get the game against Brown,” said Whitehead. “Hopefully if he plays well he’ll play again against Northeastern.”
UMaine attempted to regain some dignity in the final 15 minutes. Re-focused the Black Bears swayed momentum onto their side.
At 13:23 of the third, the Black Bears pulled within two goals thanks to John Hopson. Having just dodged a huge bullet on the other end, Ryan fed a long pass from below his own blue line to Keenan Hopson, who was waiting just over the centerline.
From there Hopson broke free and carried the puck to the goal line, where he twisted around and flung a pass to his brother. John Hopson proceeded to smack the high pass into the net.
For the Black Bears, the goal came about 20 minutes too late.
“They got a lead and we didn’t play with that same urgency until the third period when we were down by three,” said Whitehead. “It was too little, too late.”
“We’re happy about the third period but you can’t just play one period, it’s three periods,” said Ryan.
Sims completed the game with 36 saves, including 20 in the third period, while Lundin had 10.
“College hockey is a game that is played at a frenetic pace and if you’re not ready to match that pace, you can have all the hockey sense in the world you want, but in the end the team that wins the loose pucks tends to win,” said Whitehead.
The Friars got on the scoreboard first at 16:28 with a tally from Kyle Laughlin. However, the Black Bears responded two minutes later with a goal of their own from Ryan. Coming on a 5-on-3 powerplay, Ryan one-timed a shot past Sims after passes from John Hopson and Mike Lundin.
The Black Bears at the time looked like they were prepared to stay with the first place Friars. Providence had other plans.
“They are good team, it wasn’t an easy night, they kept pouring it on us,” said Gajda. “We’re just going to continue to play every night and people will realize we’re a good team.”
The Black Bears will look to snap the first three game losing streak post-Kariya era on Wednesday against Brown at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland.
UMaine is unbeaten at the CCCC in the past few seasons, notching wins over the USA Under-18 team last year and Vermont in 2003-04.
“I believe in this team, it has a lot of positives and great things,” said Whitehead. “At this point now we need our team to play with that same positive attitude and urgency consistently that we showed in the third.”
For Moore, the change that is needed, is simple.
“Basically we just need to find a way to motivate the team and not wait until we get beyond in the game to start playing.”
