The #1 ranked University of Maine Black Bears once again defeated the Merrimack Warriors Saturday night in front of a crowd of 5345 fans at Alfond Arena. Like last night,Maine jumped on Merrimack and dropped their spirits from the opening seconds. Last night it took all of 14 seconds for Cal Ingraham to slip the past Merrimack goalie Mike Doneghey,tonight it was 26,as Matt Martin and Jim Montgomery fed Cal who was standing all alone on the near side of the net,and he quickly deposited it in the back of the net. However,Merrimack made a better account of themselves than last night,and did not allow Maine to score again quickly. However,there was only so long they could hold out. Cal Ingraham scored again at 8:10 (Paul Kariya,Montgomery) (PPG) and Kariya scored at 11:25 (Martin,Montgomery) (PPG) and UM took a 3-0 lead into the locker room. Merrimack kept up as much intensity as it could muster,but when Chris Imes (Eric Fenton,Michel Latendresse) and Pat Tardif (Latendresse Imes) scored just 16 seconds apart at 7:48 and 8:04,the Bears opened up a 5-0 lead,which proved to be the nail in the coffin. Tardif scored again at 15:07 and the Black Bears took a 6-0 lead into the inter- mission. Dan Gravelle put the Warriors on the board 3:52 into the final frame scoring on feeds from Matt Hayes and Wayde MacMillan,to cut the lead to 6-1. The goal ended UMaine's stretch of 11 periods without allowing an even-strength goalprior to Gravelle,the last even-strength goal allowed was October 30 by the University of New Brunswick. Eric Fenton put the Bears up 7-1 at 9:08 (Kariya,Ingraham) (PPG),but Gravelle answered with his second goal,this time on the power-play,assisted by Mike Kelleher. Jim Montgomery scored at 15:23 (Ingraham,Kariya),and Tardif buried the puck 20 seconds later (Latendresse,Fenton),and what had been a relatively closely contested battle was now a blowout. Eric Fenton scored his seventh goal of the season with 1:27 left (Tardif),and Lee Saunders scored with just 6 seconds left to seal the game at 11-2. Maine played a superior game again tonight,but the score really did not reflect the efforts put forth by the Warriors. Unlike last night,the Warriors put up a fight until nearly the end. But they simply couldn't stay with the Bears. Now it is on to Boston,where Maine promises to get two tough road games at Walter Brown. Scoring by Period 1 2 3 Total Merrimack 0 0 2 2 Maine 3 3 6 11 Saves by Period 1 2 3 Total Merrimack Doneghey 17 11 6 34 Millar - 6 4 10 Maine Snow 8 8 3 19 Hirsch - - 0 0 (In the final 10:25...no shots on goal) Power play: Merrimack 1/6 Maine 4/11 Records Merrimack 4-3-1 0-2-0 HE Maine 6-0-1 4-0-1 HE Another score I have heard at this hour: Northeastern 2 BU 1 ! John Forsyth UMaine Class of 199? The opinions expressed are mine. Some may agree. Many will disagree. But then,some people are wise,while many are foolish. Think about it.