FROM THE BLUE LINE for February 11, 1999
with Maine head coach Rick Filighera and Deron Treadwell
The University of Maine Lady Black Bears went 1-2 over the last week losing
twice to the Dartmouth Big Green before rebounding to beat Division III
Bowdoin College on Tuesday.
On Friday, Maine (10-13-1, 4-13-1 ECAC) fell to Dartmouth 5-2 in a game
that was much closer than the score indicates. Down 1-0, Kira Misikowetz
went top-corner on a beautiful goal to tie the game six minutes into the
second, but poor penalty killing hurt the Lady Black Bears as the Big Green
responded with two power-play tallies to close out the second, and then
scored twice in less than a minute just four minutes into the third to put
the game out of reach. Raffi Wolf had Maine's last goal with 2:18 to go.
The next night, Maine once again held tough, but the Big Green were more
prepared to play the Black Bears. Despite outshooting Maine 18-5 in the
first period, Dartmouth could only manage one goal against freshman
netminder Amanda Cronin. The York, Maine native played solid on the
weekend making 31 saves on Saturday and 27 saves on Friday night.
Maine again came out flat to start the third period, this time trailing
2-0, and were completely jumped by the Big Green. Dartmouth scored three
goals in the first 3:28 of the third period to bury the Black Bears. Wolf
scored the lone goal for Maine on the power play seven minutes into the
third as Maine lost 5-1.
"The Dartmouth games I felt we hung in there pretty well," said Coach Rick
Filighera. "We played better on Friday night. Their size and strength
hurt us. We need another year of physical strength and more experience [to
defeat them]. Dartmouth needed to work hard to beat us."
Filighera said it wouldn't be long before his team is on par with Dartmouth.
"We were too small and we were learning a new zone coverage which effected
our reaction time," Filighera noted. "I think our skating skills were
similar, but Dartmouth was use to playing at a high level."
Maine was also down several key players the entire weekend. Amy Van Vuren
missed the series with the separated shoulder she suffered in the Colby
series, and junior Allison Lorenz and freshmen Sarah Caza, both key members
of Maine's middle lines, did not play Friday due to illness. Caza also
missed Saturday's game, while Lorenz dressed, but played sparingly.
On Tuesday the Lady Black Bears headed south for a matchup with Division
III power Bowdoin College. Bowdoin (10-6-1) is currently ranked No. 5 in
the nation in Division III and presented an interesting game for the Black
Bears. Maine had an easy time with the Polar Bears back in December
winning 9-1, while playing most of that game without star forward Raffi
Wolf. Wolf and the Black Bears did indeed win Tuesday, but this time the
result was much closer, 4-0. Wolf had two goals, while Misikowetz had
three assists. Jill Marks collected two points with a goal and an assist,
her first points of the season. Cronin stopped all 21 shots she faced.
Filighera was less-than-enthusiastic about his team's performance against
Bowdoin, however.
"Bowdoin we took lightly and did not play well," Filighera said. "We beat
them basically because we were a better team not because we earned it.
"Bowdoin played as well as they could play," Filighera continued. "We
played poorly, but still outshot them 46-21. That score could have been
8-0 or 9-0 if we would have concentrated better."
Once again Raffi Wolf was key for Maine as the ECAC Rookie-of-the-Year
candidate notched four goals on the week.
"Raffi has basically become more consistent and is playing with more
confidence," Filighera said. "She has to be considered for Rookie of the
Year. To accomplish what she has with a new program shows how good she is
and where she could go."
Wolf now has 26 goals and 11 assists for 37 points, which is tops on the
team and currently ranks her sixth in overall ECAC scoring, but Wolf's 26
goals ranks her first in the league. She is third overall in freshmen
scoring behind Harvard's Jennifer Botterill and Angela Ruggiero.
Not to be forgotten is Misikowetz, who is now 12th in the ECAC in overall
scoring and not far behind Wolf for the team points lead with 10 goals and
23 assists for 33 points. Her 23 assists tie her for fifth overall in the
ECAC and four of her 10 goals have been game-winners.
Coach Filighera put it best when he said, "unsung hero this week has to go
to Christina Hedges." Hedges is one of only two seniors on the Maine
roster and was one of only a handful of players remaining from last year's
Division III squad. Hedges had 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points in 20
games last year, including two hat tricks, to finish second on the team
while playing both forward and defense. The Rochester, Mass. native won
the Heuberger Award while in high school for "the athlete who gave the most
to the sport." Hedges has played in all 24 of Maine's games with two
goals and six assists for eight points.
"She helped kill two five-on-three power plays and played with great
enthusiasm," Filighera said of Hedges. "She set up our first goal on
Tuesday with pure determination and was the hardest worker that night."
Maine will play a key series with Boston College (7-15-2, 3-13-2 ECAC) this
weekend. The Eagles are currently one point behind the Black Bears in the
standings and will be looking to move up at home against Maine. Both teams
are still mathematically alive for that final ECAC playoff spot. Cornell
has 20 points and is in eighth-place. The Lady Black Bears are 11 points
down with 8 games remaining on the schedule. If Maine is to have any hope
of playing hockey in mid-March, it must take two this weekend.
"Boston College is a funny team," Filighera said. "They play well against
good teams but lose to teams they should beat."
The Eagles and Black Bears match up very well in all areas. BC sports a
pair of 30-point forwards in Erin MaGee (12 goals and 23 assists for 35
points), who is ranked 9th overall in the league and Jennifer Buckley (11
goals, 19 assists for 30 points).
It will be Cronin in net for Maine, who will likely go head-to-head with
Christy Nentwig for BC. Nentwig has a 4.27 goals against average and a
.885 save percentage, while Cronin has a 3.43 goals against average and an
.892 save percentage.
The Eagles average half a goal more than Maine per game offensively, but
give up almost 4.5 goals per game, which is over a goal more than Maine's
defense allows. The game may come down to how well Maine generates offense
against BC, since the Black Bears have struggled at times putting the puck
in the net.
"I feel that [BC] can score goals, but are not as sharp on defense,"
Filighera said. "We will need to exploit this and play well in our own end
if we are to have a chance."
The teams are practically even on paper, which makes for a great series for
anyone to check out in the Boston area. Game times are at 7 p.m. on Friday
and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Watch out in the third period, however, where BC
has been outscored 41-23 so far this year.
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Deron Treadwell - [log in to unmask]
"Any idiot can face a crisis -- it's this day-to-day living
that wears you out." - Anton Chekhov
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