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Saturday, March 1, 2003
Maine lets this one go to the dogs
By KEVIN THOMAS, Portland Press Herald Writer
Copyright 2003 Blethen Maine Newspapers Inc.
ORONO -- Goal. Blink. Goal. And if there was crying in hockey, the tears would have come.
The University of Maine led Boston University 2-1 late in the third period, but then allowed two goals within three seconds.
The Terriers added an empty-netter to finish off the Black Bears 4-2 before 4,958 mostly-stunned fans at Alfond Arena - save for one section of scarlet-and-white clad BU fans who may still be dancing this morning.
Maine continues its unusual losing streak on opening nights of weekend series, the string now at 0-5. The Black Bears outshot BU 30-20 and looked like they had this game won.
"That is no way to lose a game," Maine senior forward Chris Heisten said. "We outplayed them. We dominated them. We did everything to win that game, except we stopped playing for 20 seconds, and you can't do that against a good team."
The loss eliminated any chance for Maine to finish first in the Hockey East standings. With one game left in the season, the Black Bears are 23-7-5 and 13-6-4 in the league, four points behind Boston College, and two behind New Hampshire. BC and UNH played to a 3-3 tie Friday.
BU (21-11-3, 13-9-1) can clinch fourth place in the standings with a point tonight when the Terriers face Maine again.
Maine looked like it would stay in contention for the regular-season title when the Black Bears buried two goals 2:38 apart in the third period. Tom Reimann one-timed a Derek Damon feed at 6:16, followed by John Ronan's rebound score at 8:54.
"We were so down," said BU's John Cronin.
But the Terriers recovered, when Ryan Whitney cleared a breakaway pass to Frantisek Skladany. Maine goalie Frank Doyle did not have time to come out and Skladany beat him quickly with a wrist shot to Doyle's blocker side at 17:39.
BU won the next faceoff. Forward Kenny Magoiwan flipped the puck in front of the net, where Cronin, a defenseman, kept swinging at it in traffic, connecting on his second try to lift it over Doyle's shoulder at 17:42.
"I was hesitant to step up, thinking we should be lucky to get out with a point," Cronin said. "It was such an unbelievable change in emotion."
Doyle concurred.
"To go from an extreme high to such a low. It's the worst way you can lose," Doyle said.
Still, Maine Coach Tim Whitehead applauded his team
"We should be proud of our effort tonight," he said. "The season is not over. This one stings, obviously. But we really did execute the game plan, the way we wanted.
"We'll watch the film to find out how the puck ended up in the back of the net at the end. But this was a good step, perhaps better than Massachusetts (where Maine won 4-0 last Saturday)."
The first period began with the Black Bears determined to end their weekend-opening jinx, as Maine dominated play. BU failed to get its first shot on goal until 12:30 into the period.
Maine created chances, but the Terriers' defense did not break down, and goalie Sean Fields (28 saves) was solid. The Black Bears' best chance came when Greg Moore's deflection hit the post on a power play.
But the Terriers are always a dangerous team. BU forward Brian Collins scooped up a turnover in Maine's left faceoff circle and fired on Doyle. Doyle made a stand-up save. The puck dropped and David VanderGulik back-handed it in at 18:26.
Overall, Maine fired 64 shots, including 14 blocked by the defense, 18 off target and two pipes.
"Nine out of 10 times, we play with that effort and that kind of hustle, we'll come out on top," Heisten said. "We just got to go out (tonight) and give the same effort."
Staff Writer Kevin Thomas can be contacted at 791-6411 or at: [log in to unmask]
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