New Hampshire 7 Maine 2 (NC) Saturday, November 30, 1996 at Gutterson Fieldhouse (Burlington, VT) Score By Periods Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play UNH 2 - 4 - 1 -- 7 10 - 12 - 8 -- 30 12 - 24 2 - 13 ME 2 - 0 - 0 -- 2 8 - 11 - 6 -- 23 16 - 32 1 - 9 Records: New Hampshire (11-2-0, 8-0-0 HE) Maine (6-6-0, 1-4-1 HE) SCORING 1st Period UNH-1 Mark Mowers (Boguniecki) :59 ME-1 Shawn Wansborough (Kariya, Larose) PPG 2:53 UNH-2 Eric Nickulas (Krog, Murray) 10:27 ME-2 Scott Parmentier (Wansborough) 17:43 2nd Period UNH-3 Steve O'Brien (Murray, Bekar) 5x3 PPG/GWG :56 UNH-4 Mark Mowers (Bekar) SHG 7:03 UNH-5 Eric Boguniecki (Bekar) 4x4 10:08 UNH-6 Derek Bekar (Mowers, Murray) PPG 11:03 3rd Period UNH-7 Mark Mowers (Bekar, Boguniecki) 9:43 Goaltenders Saves by Period UNH - Brian Larochelle (60:00) 6 - 11 - 6 -- 23 UM - Alfie Michaud (31:03) 8 - 3 - x -- 11 Jovier Gorriti (28:57) x - 5 - 7 -- 12 BURLINGTON, VT -- Mark Mowers had a hat trick, earning him Most Valuable Player Honors, as New Hampshire won their 10th straight game, and the second annual Governor's Cup Tournament with a 7-2 win over the University of Maine Saturday November 30. FIRST PERIOD: It didn't take long for UNH to get on the board in the first period, as Mark Mowers lit the lamp just 59 seconds into the contest. Maine defenseman Jason Price did not take the body on Mowers who was able to move right in on Maine starting goaltender Alfie Michaud and beat him for the 1-0 lead. But Christian Bragnalo would help Maine get back into the game as he took a slashing penalty at the 2:32 mark of the period. Twenty-one second later Shawn Wansborough tallied his fifth goal of the season. Just seconds earlier, UNH forward Eric Boguniecki raced down the ice short-handed only to hit the post. On the ensuing rush up ice, Wansborough crosses the blue line and rips the shot past UNH netminder Brian LaRochelle to tie the game at 1-1 just 2:53 into the contest. UNH put a lot of quality pressure on, but Maine wasn't folding and were getting some high percentage opportunities of their own. UNH is so talented offensively that it was important that Maine weather the storms when the came, and be able to counter offensively. UNH would catch Maine puck staring again though. This time it was Eric Nickulas who took the faceoff after a UNH icing, and moved all the way up ice and scored at the 10:27 mark of the period. Maine struggled for the next few minutes at getting shots on net, especially on the power play as UNH kept Maine on the perimeter and didn't allow much of anything down low. Maine would increase their pressure, and right after Scott Parmentier hit the post, he'd get another chance and convert. Just like the shot that hit the post, Parmentier took the puck around the net and moved into the slot where he went five-hole to beat LaRochelle with 2:17 left in the first period to tie the score at 2-2. Seventeen seconds later, Parmentier went to the box and it started to fall apart for Maine. While UNH was on the power play, Matt Oliver took an ill-advised penalty behind the play, slashing a UNH player. That came with only eight seconds left in the period. Then with only two seconds left in the period, Maine defenseman Brian White took a UNH player into the net and was called for a penalty. The result was that UNH would have a 5-on-3 advantage for almost two minutes to start the second period, and it was a turning point in the hockey game. Overall the first period was not a bad period. Maine generated some good offense at times and stayed with the powerful Wildcats. The score was tied 2-2 and Maine was still in the game. SECOND PERIOD: Fifty-six seconds into the second UNH converted on their 5-on-3 advantage to take a 3-2 lead. It was a bad goal for Michuad to let up, as O'Brien was right in front of him and Michaud got beat to the short-side. When you consider that Maine was two-men down, Michaud has certain responsibilities and making that save was one of them. The goal clearly broke any confidence Michaud had, and the team didn't seem to respond well either. Michaud hung his head after the goal, and the team had to be demoralized as it was a 5-on-3 that should have been killed. Maine would rebound slightly, and even carried the play for several minutes following the UNH power play, but had trouble putting the puck on the net. Twice Maine shots went wide and out of the offensive zone. When Tim Murray went to the box, Maine had a golden opportunity to once again stay in the game and pull even. But Derek Bekar and Mark Mowers victimized David Cullen and went in 2-on-1 short-handed against Michaud. Mowers converted the short-handed chance and UNH led 4-2 at the 7:03 mark of the second, and that was the straw that broke the camel's back. About two minutes later, Maine would get another power play after Ryan Harris pulled down Trevor Roenick. But Jeff Libby gave Mark Mowers a little extra with the elbow after the whistle and was whistled for a penalty, quickly ending a Maine man-advantage. Once again, a lack of disipline would hurt the Black Bears. This time with the play 4-on-4 and UNH really rolling, they caught the Bears flat-footed again and Eric Boguniecki scored the goal at 10:08 to extend the Wildcat lead to 5-2. Less than a minute later, with UNH now on the power play as a result of the Libby penalty they scored again. Dan Shermerhorn got fancy as he tried to carry the puck into the UNH zone and he dropped a pass back to nobody. Mowers picked it up and UNH went 3-on-1 the other way. Bekar lit the lamp and UNH led 6-2 and Maine interim coach pulled Alfie Michaud -- for the second straight night -- in favor of Javier Gorriti. UNH scored four times in the second, three of those goals coming exactly in a four minute span. Alfie Michaud saw seven shots, and let four of them go by. By contrast Gorriti made five saves and allowed no goals in his half of the period. THIRD PERIOD: Very little of the third period was played at even strength as both sides were whistled for several power plays. Maine played an incredibly undisiplined period as UNH unoffically had seven power plays in the period, including another two-man advantage. More on this later. The teams traded power plays and shooting themselves in the foot in the first half of the third period. UNH got the early advantage when Price pulled down Mike Souza, but then Bekar went off for holding. Neither power play amounted to much. Libby would go off for elbowing (again) and then Bekar for tripping this time. When Maine got the power play back, Wansborough tripped LaRochelle and got pulled off ending the Maine power play. When play finally got back to 5-on-5, UNH scored another goal. Boguniecki and Mowers went into the zone and Mowers scored his 10th goal of the year as he beat Gorriti, notching a hat trick, and extending the UNH lead to 7-2. UNH scored on Maine in practically every way Saturday night. They scored 5-on-3, 5-on-4, even strength and short-handed. It was a dominating performance offensively for UNH. Gorriti made some good plays as the team in front of him degenerated completely. Overall Gorriti allowed one goal while facing 13 shots. The numbers are not overwhelming, but Maine spent a great amount of time short-handed during the third period so he was forced to come up big, and did on several occasions. By contrast LaRochelle was forced to only make six saves in the third, and 23 saves overall. COMMENTS: It would not be fair to comment on this game without making mention of the poor sportsmanship some of the Black Bears showed by the end of this game. I'm not going to mention names or single anyone in particular out, but to anyone who saw and listened to the call of the game on the radio, that some Maine players took cheap shots at the UNH players in the third period of this contest. In fact things started to get so out of hand that Cronin called a timeout, and referee Frank Cole told both benches that they would call everything,and reminding the teams that this was a non-conference game and they wouldn't want to miss any Hockey East games. They kept their word to their credit. This poor show of sportsmanship reflects badly on a school, and a program, that is already maligned with the problems of the last three years of NCAA investigations. Not every player on the ice Saturday took these liberties, but some clearly did, and as frustrating as I'm sure this game was, they did a disservice to their university by their actions. Clearly the undisiplined play which started late in the second and spilled over into the third took away any chances Maine had to win. Maine gave UNH 13 power plays on the night, but held the Wildcats to only the two power play goals. This game could have been far worse given the power play time UNH had. Maine players spent 32 minutes (of a 60 minute game) sitting in the penatly box as they received 16 penalties overall. There is no question that Javier Gorriti should get the start in net for Maine Friday at Boston College. Gorriti played solid enough in two relief roles to earn the shot, and after 13 starts for Michaud he is only 5-6-1 (Gorriti has the sixth Maine win -- Friday night's 4-3 win over UML). I agree with former Maine goaltender Blair Marsh who said that there comes a point in time when a goaltender has to step up and make some big saves, and backstop his team. We've almost played half a season and Michaud isn't doing that, Gorriti deserves his shot. Maine really did play a pretty good first period Saturday night. They were outshot 10-8, but had a couple bad defensive plays, but rebounded. Michaud did let in some weak goals in the second, but the team didn't rebound after UNH scored like they did in the first. UNH has won games by scoring in bunches. On November 15-16, they swept Maine by scoring five goals in the second period on Nov. 15, and four goals in the first on Nov. 16. Friday night against No. 7 Vermont, they scored five goals in the second, and Saturday against Maine they used four in the second to distance themselves. UNH is now 11-2-0, and with BU losing twice this weekend to ECAC teams will likely move up in the ranks. UNH is the team to beat in the East right now, and with such a talented group of forwards, and an improving defensive corps coupled with solid goaltending, they could do some really good things. Maine falls to 6-6-1 and must regroup as they play two huge games with Boston College this weekend. Maine is still only 1-4-1 in Hockey East and is tied for last place. Maine needs to have a solid performance on the road. This weekend will also mark Cronin's last two games as head coach of Maine. Maine takes the following weekend off before the J.C. Penney Classic on Dec. 20 and 21. Cronin will be gone during that time to coaching a team for Jeff Jackson at USA Hockey, and Grant Standbrook will be in charge before Shawn Walsh returns on Christmas. --- Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])