Maine 5, Mass Lowell 4 (OT)
UML 4 - 0 - 0 - 0 -- 4
Maine 1 - 1 - 2 - 1 -- 5
ORONO, Maine -- Cory Larose scored with 1:00 left in overtime to lift the
UMaine Black Bears to a 5-4, come from behind victory, over the visiting
Riverhawks.
PREGAME:
Jason Mansoff, Scott Parmentier, and Jason Vitorino all returned to the
lineup tonight. Maine did not play Reg Cardinal because of the flu, and
Nils Satterstrom is still nursing an injury.
Tonight marked the first of three straight games Maine will play against UML
(Friday, Saturday and next Friday first-round of Governor's Cup)
FIRST PERIOD:
The first period of Friday night's game started right where the series at
New Hampshire left off. Maine came out flat, did not play the body well,
and generally played very sloppy.
Anthony Cappelletti got the Riverhawks on the board first with a power play
goal at 4:22. Doug Nolan broke up the play at his own blue line, and got
the puck to Greg Koehler. Koehler caught the Maine defense up ice and came
in 2-on-1 with Cappelletti.
It looked like once again Maine would suffer from odd man rushes that Alfie
Michaud would not be able to contain. Many I'm sure were hoping that Alfie
Michaud might make an incredible save or two to start the game and show he
hasn't lost his confidence, or at least work on it. It didn't happen, and
it would get plenty worse before it would get better.
Minutes after the first UML goal, Ben Guite would be whistled for a
five-minute major for hitting from behind. There is also a game misconduct
with that, so Guite was gone for the game. Maine was down Cardinal to begin
with, now Guite.
UML would make Guite, and his teammates pay dearly for the penalty. They'd
score twice on the advantage to push their lead to 3-0 by just over the
halfway mark of the period.
Ryan Sandholm was the first to score. After Maine failed to clear the zone,
UML had a 3-on-1 down low. Mike Nicholishen flipped a sweet pass to
Sandholm who had an empty net to shoot at. That made it 2-0 Lowell at the
8:31 mark.
Just under three minutes later Lowell would get the next goal. This time it
was Cappelletti with the good pass to Koehler at the post who just
redirected the puck into the open side of the net. This goal was clearly
attributed to the defense. Koehler was all alone at the post, and
Cappelletti sold the play by making it look like a shot freezing Michaud.
3-0 Lowell, and the period is just past half over.
But Maine would get back into the game just three minutes later. Steve
Kariya hit Scott Parmentier in stride coming down the right side and
Parmentier skated to the bottom of the faceoff circle before using that
terrific wrist shot of his to beat UML goaltender Martin Fillion at 14:35.
Only trailing 3-1 after everything that happened would have been acceptable,
but Lowell did not give up. Shawn Wansborough attempted a shot just inside
the blue line with seconds left in the third -- apparently to just put
something on net -- but it was broken up by Chris Bell who went in 2-on-1
with Sean Storozuk. Storozuk converted with only five seconds remaining in
the first period, and a 4-1 Lowell lead.
Once again, it was a poor period all around for Maine. Like the previous
two games, Maine gave up too many odd man rushes, and when they did, Michaud
couldn't seem to make the big save. In retrospect, Michaud had a limited
chance on any of the four goals. UML had only 8 shots in the period, while
Maine had 11.
It was a fairly even period, but UML got their most success by using an
aggressive forcheck. Maine seemed very unsure of themselves in their own
zone, and the Riverhawks exploited that by sending two and sometimes three
forecheckers in deep and Maine was coughing up the puck.
When Maine was able to get out of their own zone, they had great success
generating some chances. Eleven shots considering the time spent
shorthanded that period is pretty good. Fillion made a couple dandy saves
for UML to keep the three goal advantage.
SECOND PERIOD:
I honestly thought we might see Javier Gorriti to start the second. Michaud
wasn't to blame per se, but four goals on eight shots isn't very good.
Michaud did start the period, and he would play well for the remainder of
the game. After allowing the four goals in the first, he would stop
everything else that came his way.
In the past two games, Maine has had a "bad" period that has essentially
been the difference. Last Friday it was a 5 goal second period by UNH, the
next night it was a four goal first period. Tonight was the same thing, but
in none of those games did Maine come out in the following period and play
as well as they did in the second tonight.
Maine would dominate the Riverhawks for the entire second period,
outshooting them 15-5, but only scoring once. Their defense tightened, the
passing improved, the confidence level seemed to rise and Maine got back
into the game.
Martin Fillion had a great period for Lowell. He saw some quality chances
and turned them aside, but it was a mad scramble for one of his few rebounds
that period that gave Maine its second goal.
Shawn Mansoff, who played both forward and defense tonight, slammed home a
loose puck at 12:16 of the second to bring Maine within two at 4-2.
It appeared as though Maine was just going to be unlucky tonight. They
dominated the period, but only scored once, and to top it off defenseman
Jeff Libby suffered an injury during the period and did not return. He will
not play Saturday either.
THIRD PERIOD:
Maine entered the third period, down by two goals and three players. With
Cardinal out with the flu, Guite ejected, and Libby injured Maine had their
work cut out for them.
It would take only 21 seconds for Maine's stellar new line combination of
Steve Kariya, Scott Parmentier and Shawn Wansbourgh to erase the Riverhawk lead.
At the 8:36 mark of the third Scott Parmentier collected a rebound in the
slot and let a quick turn-around shot go, beating Fillion and bringing Maine
within one goal at 4-3.
On the ensuing rush up ice, Shawn Wansbourgh came into the Maine zone alone
with two UML defenders, but he dropped a pass to Steve Kariya who was
trailing the play, and Kariya scored at 8:57 -- 21 seconds after the
Parmentier goal -- and the score was tied at 4-4.
Fillion made the best save I have seen this year in the third period. Shawn
Wansborough had a centering pass all alone in the slot and Fillion just
plain robbed him. It was a great save that brought some cheers from the
Maine faithful.
Much like the second, Maine dominated this period as well. UML generated
more shots (7) than in the second, and Maine took less (13), but the play
was totally in Maine's favor. You could see the players growing more
confident with each time they broke through the UML forecheck, and once they
tied the score. Maine's passing was improved in the third as well.
Alfie Michaud also stood up in the third period. He made several key saves
late in the game, including one with roughly a minute to go to preserve the tie.
OVERTIME:
There were relatively few chances in overtime for either side, though Maine
controlled the play. Lowell had only one shot in the four minutes of
overtime that were played.
An unusual line combination of Jason Vitorino, Cory Larose and Trevor
Roenick produced two goals tonight, but they produced the biggest goal
scored this season.
Trevor Roenick took the puck away from Ryan Sandholm deep in the UML zone
and centered a pass to freshman Cory Larose who was alone in the slot.
Larose didn't miss a beat in getting the shot away, and it ended up in the
back of the net for the win. Hard work setup this goal, and many have
questioned where Trevor Roenick has been this year. He certainly stepped up
along with the rest of his teammates tonight.
POSTGAME:
I've been talking on and off the list all week that this one game would tell
us more about Maine than any other. Maine's back was against the wall, last
in Hockey East, a three-game losing streak, and questions up and down the
bench. How easy would it have been to pack it in trailing 4-1 after one.
This team showed character and it showed heart tonight. They put the first
period behind them, and they rallied for a stunning overtime victory. This
game is surely a needed confidence boost for a hurting team. This game
alone won't do much, but it is certainly something to build on. Part of
sweeping a team is winning on Friday night, Maine can now focus on Saturday
and another chance to move up in the standings.
There was no question who the best team was tonight. Maine outplayed UML
for all of this game, with the exception of the shorthand. UML's power play
far outmatched the Maine penalty killers. This will be an important area of
focus in meetings tomorrow morning I'm sure.
Maine outshot UML 42-21 (31-13 in the final 44 minutes). Martin Fillion
held onto the lead, but as Maine turned up the heat he did begin to give up
more rebounds, and Maine went to the net well, getting many quality chances.
Unlike Northeastern and UNH, the Lowell defensemen do not do a good job
clearing rebounds and tying up forwards.
The Kariya-Parmentier-Wansborough line was absolutely incredible tonight.
They all registered at least two points tonight (Kariya, 1-2--3, Parmentier
2-0--2, Wansborough 0-2--2) and they were dominating. They logged a lot of
ice time late in the game, and they played well.
UML was able to cause problems with their forecheck. Maine was the better
team tonight, and to win Saturday they will need to come out and take the
lead and try to force UML out of their deep forecheck and get into a more
wide open game. Maine was much faster than the Riverhawks, and they'll want
to exploit that Saturday night.
Overall, a great effort for Maine tonight and a needed "W". We've now seen
how the Bears deal with adversity, let's see how they deal with a moderate
amount of success.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])
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