The Maine Black Bears won the consolation game of the Mariucci Classic by a 4-1 count over Cornell, in a game that was hardly any consolation for the Big Red and probably not much more for Maine (though they got their head coach back). Maine 4, Cornell 1 Maine 2 2 0 -- 4 Cornell 0 1 0 -- 1 First period -- Scoring: M Barry Clukey (Mike Latendresse, Patrice Tardif), 10:33 1-0 M Jason Weinrich (Tardif, Reg Cardinal), 19:02 (PP) 2-0 Penalties: C P.C. Drouin (holding), approx. 5:00; M Brad Purdie (tripping), 13:21; M Tardif (slashing), 13:48; C Brad Chartrand (holding), 18:01; Second period -- Scoring: M Tardif (Latendresse, Weinrich), 0:37 3-0 M Dan Shermerhorn (Purdie, Latendresse), 6:14 (PP) 4-0 C Geoff Bumstead (Steve Wilson, Chartrand), 17:30 (PP) 4-1 Penalties: C Mike Sancimino (high-sticking), 5:53; C Tyler McManus (high- sticking), 7:01; M Cardinal (tripping), 7:42; C Chartrand (elbowing), 8:28; M Trevor Roenick (roughing), 8:34; C Dan Dufresne (roughing), 8:34; M Purdie (hooking), 17:22 Third period -- Penalties: C S. Wilson (hooking), 0:41; C Shaun Hannah (cross-checking), 9:18; C Chad Wilson (roughing), 9:18; M Cal Ingraham (tripping served by Wayne Conlan, roughing), 9:43; C Jason Kendall (roughing), 9:43; M Andy Silverman (roughing), 11:55; M Jason Mansoff (tripping), 18:06 Shots on goal: Maine 12-16-8 -- 36, Cornell 6-6-6 -- 18 Power play: Maine 2 of 9, Cornell 1 of 6 Goaltending: M Blair Marsh (18 shots, 17 saves) C Andy Bandurski (36 shots, 32 saves) A minor correction to the Cornell-Minnesota box I posted earlier: Cornell was 2 of 6 on the power play in that game, not 2 of 5. Game notes: With this win, the Black Bears managed to avoid their first three-game on-ice losing streak since they lost four straight in early January of 1990. The Big Red, meanwhile, has lost the last six holiday tournament games they have played. A bit of good news for Cornell, however, as forward P.C. Drouin returned to the lineup. He had been academically ineligible for the fall semester, but he apparently has got that worked out. Freshman defenseman Chad Wilson also played in this game after being out the last four or five. Both teams were a bit sluggish early on, and that was especially true of the Black Bears during their first power play, as they were very disorganized and didn't generate any real scoring chances until there were 20 seconds left in the man-up situation. But, sluggish or no, Maine got on the board first at the 10:33 mark of the opening period. Patrice Tardif started the play by rushing up the ice and dropping a pass for Mike Latendresse, who fired one that was blocked by Blair Ettles. The rebound wound up on Barry Clukey's stick, and he flipped it over a hung-out-to-dry Andy Bandurski. Cornell had a golden oppor- tunity with 5:48 left in the period, on what would turn out to be their only shot on goal of a minute-and-a-half long 5 on 3. With Maine goalie Blair Marsh out of position, Mike Sancimino fired at the open net, but Marsh was able to dive back and block the shot with his left pad. Despite some inconsistent play, it looked like Cornell would go to the locker room down by only one goal to the defending national champs, but Maine's Jason Weinrich had other ideas. After the Black Bears won a faceoff in the Cornell zone, Weinrich got the puck at the left point and unleashed a rocket that beat Bandurski high with 58 seconds left in the first. The Big Red presumably spent the intermission getting over that shock, but the break didn't do much good, as Maine was up 3-0 just 37 seconds into the second period. Latendresse faked a shot and then, with Steve Wilson hanging all over him, got a real one off which Ban- durski blocked. The rebound bounced around until Tardif got his stick on it, stuffing the puck home. At 5:53 of the second period, Sancimino was sent off for high-sticking, but almost immediately, Shaun Hannah was streaking down the ice on a short-handed breakaway. His wrister from the left circle floated wide, however, and the Black Bears got the rebound off the boards and came right back, scoring their fourth goal at the 6:14 mark on Dan Shermer- horn's one-timer. Shermerhorn one-timed another shot from the peri- meter past Bandurski a couple minutes later, but the play had been blown dead thanks to coincidental roughing minors. With under three minutes remaining, Brad Chartrand broke toward the Maine net, but he was hauled down by Brad Purdie, who was sent off for hooking at the 17:22 mark. The Big Red argued vociferously for the penalty shot option, but to no avail. It turned out not to matter, as Geoff Bumstead broke up Marsh's shutout bid just eight seconds later. Steve Wilson's pass along the boards bounced off a couple players, but Bumstead got to it and backhanded a shot from a tough angle past an out-of-position Marsh. The third period was uneventful for the most part, except for some chippy play here and there. The Cornell defense was able to tighten up a little (or perhaps it was more a case of Maine coasting), but the offense was still unable to generate much pressure on Marsh. About nine minutes in, Cornell had a great opportunity when Chartrand and Hannah found themselves on a 2-on-0 break, but Chartrand's shot went wide of the net. Maine also had a chance to pad their lead, as Laten- dresse had a short-handed breakaway with six and a half minutes remaining, but defenseman Tim Shean was able to get back and deflect the shot out of play. Bandurski played well, considering he didn't get much help, and he stopped 32 shots in absorbing his first loss of the year. Marsh made 17 saves for the Black Bears. -- Disclaimer -- Unless otherwise noted, all opinions expressed above are strictly those of: Bill Fenwick | Send your HOCKEY-L poll responses to: Cornell '86 and '94 (.5) | [log in to unmask] LET'S GO RED!! "Why is it whenever you break up with somebody, they always say, 'You'll never meet anyone else like me'? I should hope not! If I don't want to go out with YOU, why would I want to go out with someone JUST LIKE YOU?" -- Larry Miller