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With just more than a month remaining in the regular season, it is a desperate time for the University of Maine men’s hockey team.
UMaine hasn’t recorded a victory in eight games since a sweep of Union College during the last weekend before winter break. They have surrendered three or more goals in all but one of those contests.
After showing signs of improvement by tying Providence College 2-2 on Jan. 18, the Black Bears were dismantled by 14th-ranked Boston College last weekend in Chestnut Hill, Mass., losing 6-3 and 4-1.
The Black Bears now look to their first win of the month on Friday night at Alfond Arena when they host the University of Massachusetts at Lowell at 7 p.m. The February schedule will start fresh Sunday afternoon with a 4 p.m. matchup against UMass.
“We haven’t had a very good start to the second half, but we’re still right there in a playoff spot, so we can’t afford to be dropping these games, and we’re starting to run out of time,” said senior co-captain Jeff Marshall. “We’ve got to start making a move here right away.”
Sunday’s game is the first meeting of the season between the three teams in contention for the final spots in the Hockey East playoff.
The pair of losses to Boston College dropped UMaine into the eighth spot in the Hockey East Standings. UMass, Lowell built a four-point margin over the Black Bears by taking two games against Merrimack College, and is one point ahead in the seventh spot after earning a point with a tie against Vermont.
Freshman goaltender Scott Darling was benched midway through Saturday’s game at Boston College after allowing a season high five goals and was replaced by junior Dave Wilson for the remainder of the weekend.
“Not playing on Sunday was a little bit of a wake-up call,” Darling admitted. “It’s not like it’s my job. I have to work as hard as anyone else to keep it. That’s what I have to do whenever I start again. I’m just going to make the most of it.”
Coach Tim Whitehead and Marshall expressed there has been no loss of confidence in their starting goaltender.
“I have a lot of confidence in Scott,” Whitehead said. “We just have to remind each other that he’s a freshman, and that he’s been thrown in the fire, and there’s going to be some highs and lows throughout the season. I’m 100 percent confident though that he’ll bounce back and play well. He’s just got to fight through a tough stretch, but he’ll come on down the end and play well.”
“We’ve said it all year long; we’ve got two quality goaltenders. They’re like everybody else,” Marshall said in defense of the struggling netminders. “Things sometimes aren’t going to bounce their way, and we’ve still got all the confidence in the world in [Darling] and [Wilson], and we know they can do the job.”
Marshall believes mishaps in protecting the net front have left the goalies vulnerable to scoring chances.
“We have to do a little better job protecting them, not allowing those second and third shots,” Marshall said. “We’ve got to start boxing out better in front of our net, allowing them to see those, and start clearing pucks away.”
Marshall also admits to shouldering some personal blame for the team’s second half struggles.
“As seniors we’ve got to start leading the way a little more, myself especially,” Marshall said. “I don’t feel that my play lately has really been up to par. So I’ve got to really start by refocusing my own game and starting to make an impact before I can start pointing fingers at anybody else.”
Aside from the disappointing result against BC, sophomore defenseman Mike Banwell had a breakout weekend for the Black Bears, scoring his first two career goals, one on a power play and the other at even strength.
“I thought [Banwell] bounced back with a real good game the second night,” Whitehead said. “He contributed offensively again and was only at fault for one scoring chance defensively. He was very assertive on the weekend and really stepped up and played well.”
The remaining schedule does not get any easier for the Black Bears, who finish the season with two game sets against rivals University of New Hampshire and Boston University, along with hosting the University of Vermont and traveling to both UMass schools. UMaine is currently winless on the season against UNH, BU and Vermont.
Bangor Daily News