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http://www.portland.com/sports/college/hockey/020405umainemain.shtml
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Friday, April 5, 2002
UMaine reaches title game
By KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2002 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
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Roaring into the final
ST. PAUL, Minn. -- The lights at the Xcel Energy Center dimmed when Peter Metcalf reached across the bench and again grabbed the Shawn Walsh jersey, holding it up for photographers. The jersey is a constant, inspiring reminder of the late coach's influence on this University of Maine hockey program, which he coached for 17 years before his death from kidney cancer last Sept. 24.
And Thursday's Maine victory, a stunning 7-2 upset of top-ranked New Hampshire in the NCAA tournament semifinals, brought back more memories of Walsh and how he always had his Black Bears prepared for the playoffs.
Associated Press Photo Maine's Robert Liscak lifts the puck past New Hampshire's goalie Michael Ayers for one of his two goals in the Black Bears' 7-2 victory Thursday in the NCAA hockey semifinals at St. Paul, Minn. His second goal, at 8:16 of the third period, gave Maine a 4-2 lead and started a four-goal run in the fourth period.
FROZEN FOUR What: NCAA Division I hockey championship game
Who: UMaine (26-10-7) vs. Minnesota (31-8-4)
When: 7 p.m. Saturday
Where: At Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minn.
TV: ESPN
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Maine trailed 2-1 after the first period, then took control with two goals in the second and four in the third. Metcalf, Robert Liscak and Pete Falco each scored two goals.
"It's just like 1999," Metcalf said, referring to the 3-2 overtime win over UNH for the national title, which came after UNH badly beat the Black Bears to end the regular season.
Thursday's win came almost three weeks after the Wildcats dominated Maine in the Hockey East title game, winning 3-1. UNH had gone 2-1-1 in four games against Maine this year, but the Black Bears (26-10-7) skated noticeably harder Thursday while the Wildcats (30-7-3) turned in one of their worst performances of the season.
"They outworked us and they were a little bit smarter than us," said UNH senior forward Darren Haydar, a Hobey Baker Award finalist. Haydar also was on the ice in the 1999 final.
"That's something I have to live with, losing to Maine in two big, big games. Give a lot of credit to Maine. It shows what type of team they are in the postseason."
The third-ranked Black Bears will play for their third national championship at 7 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 Minnesota (31-8-4), which beat No. 4 Michigan 3-2 in Thursday's other semifinal.
"It's good to play a team you don't know much about," said Maine goalie Mike Morrison, who had 23 saves against the Wildcats. "You just play your game."
The Black Bears played UNH enough that they knew they had to play smart hockey. So what did Metcalf do in the game's first 20 seconds? He sent a pass from deep in his zone across the middle, where Wildcats forward Sean Collins intercepted and wristed it past Morrison.
"Do I get an assist for that?" Metcalf joked after the game.
Morrison, who got the start because of his 2-0-1 record against UNH, had no chance on the shot because it hit defenseman Cliff Loya's stick and flew over Morrison's shoulder.
"One of the things we worked on all season was to get ahead and put the other team on their heels," Haydar said. "That's what we felt like we did.
"Then we got the power play and we really didn't generate all that much."
Three seconds after Collins' score, UNH went on its first power play following a high-sticking call on Gray Shaneberger. The Wildcats were 5 of 15 on power plays against Maine this season, but Thursday was a different story. The talented UNH forwards found no room to operate.
"We tried to be more aggressive, not let them set up as much," Maine forward Todd Jackson said. "We tried to outwork them, basically. I think we did it pretty well."
Since UNH scored two power-play goals in the Hockey East final, "we've worked on our penalty kill every day," Maine Coach Tim Whitehead said.
"The bottom line is we weren't working hard enough. We were not winning loose pucks. We focused on outworking them and outsmarting them and tried to be prepared for what we thought they were going to do.
"Most importantly, we didn't want to get outworked."
UNH went 0 for 4 on the power play and created few threats, even during 35 seconds of a five-on-three advantage in the second period.
"This obviously was not one of our better hockey games," UNH Coach Dick Umile said.
If a poor power play was one sign of trouble for the Wildcats, Maine's first goal at 3:34 of the first was another. Liscak threw a backhander from the right circle that floated just in front of Jackson and then past goalie Michael Ayers, who was fooled.
"It was kind of a floater and I anticipated it hitting (Jackson)," said Ayers, who made 33 saves but also allowed several soft goals.
"He looked a little shaky on a couple of shots," Liscak said.
Still, UNH took a 2-1 first-period lead at 17:55 on a short-handed goal. Maine turned the puck over, David Bush shot and Steve Saviano buried the rebound.
The Wildcats outshot Maine 10-9 in the period, but the Black Bears took over from there, outshooting UNH 31-15 the rest of the way.
"The team had great confidence," said Metcalf, who gave Maine a 3-2 second-period lead with two wristers from the blue line, one through Ayers' pads at 3:37 and the other at 5:47.
UNH got its five-on-three power play at 14:47, but did not take a shot.
"We wanted to pressure them a lot," Maine forward Tom Reimann said of the penalty kill. "We didn't think they could handle it."
In the third period Jackson drove the puck in and lost it to Liscak, who poked in a backhander at 8:16.
"The backbreaker," Liscak called the goal.
Then came the onslaught with a goal by Lucas Lawson at 12:20 and two by Falco at 13:30 and 16:21, the second on a power play.
"We still have a job ahead of us," said Whitehead, sounding similar to the previous Maine coach. And like Shawn Walsh, Whitehead has the Black Bears primed in the playoffs.
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at:
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