Posts Tagged ‘Maine’

The Maine Black Bears knocked off the Northeastern Huskies for the second consecutive night, beating them by the same score they did on Friday of 4-2.

This time Northeastern took a 2-1 lead into the the third period before surrendering three consecutive goals. Just like the previous night, Maine came back from two separate one-goal deficits to tie the game at 2-2 and the Huskies could never answer back.

Unlike Friday, the Huskies power play wasn’t effective, going 0-5 and only managing to get two shots all game with the man-advantage. Maine, who had many more chances with the extra attacker, went 1-9. The Black Bears outshot Northeastern by a large margin of 40-19.

The Huskies got both of their goals at even strength. Tyler McNeely scored his third goal of the season 7:23 into the game to give NU the early lead, while Wade MacLeod put the team back on top 2-1 with his fourth of the season after Maine’s Spencer Abbott had tied the game early in the second period.

Joey Diamond tied the game 4:19 into the third period with his sixth goal of the season and then Maine took over and went for the jugular. Ryan Hegarty got the game winner just two minutes after the Black Bears tied the game up and they never looked back. Klas Leidermmark added an insurance goal later in the third.

Chris Rawlings made 36 saves for the Huskies in the losing effort, while Dan Sullivan stopped 17 for Maine.

“It was a hard fought series,” said Maine head coach Tim Whitehead. “When you finish those close games you’re glad to have been in them. It was a good experience for us against a very determined, strong Northeastern team, I thought they deserved a little better fate this weekend but it’ll come for them and we’re pleased with the third periods both nights.”

Northeastern will play a home-and-home series with the Providence Friars next week. The first game is Friday night in Providence. WRBB will have the call both nights with pre-game starting at 6:45.

Jared Shafran Hockey Maine

After the game, we spoke with head coach Greg Cronin about the team’s 4-2 loss on the road to Maine.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, Press Pass Maine

Maine forward Joey Diamond scored on a power play in the third period to put the Black Bears ahead for the first time all night and the Black Bears never looked back, beating the Northeastern Huskies 4-2 in the first of two games between the teams this weekend at Alfond Arena in Orono.

The Huskies got the lead late in the first period when freshman forward Rob Dongara got his second goal of the season. During a power play after Maine defenseman Ryan Hegarty went to the box for high sticking, Garrett Vermeersch got the puck to senior forward Wade MacLeod at the point. MacLeod took a quick shot which was deflected in front by Dongara and went past Maine goaltender Dan Sullivan who was out of position after the deflection.

“When we got the goal, I thought it was a lucky bounce but we got it and that kind of settled us down,” said Huskies head coach Greg Cronin. “I knew the first ten minutes was going to be important because Maine historically comes out and plays extremely hard off the energy the crowd generates and they did that.”

Maine responded just 1:33 into the second period when Jeff Dimmen scored his second goal of the season on a Black Bears power play.

Northeastern took the lead back on another power play goal later in the second. This time it was junior forward Mike McLaughlin who got his fourth goal of the season on a rebound after a shot by defenseman Mike Hewkin. But just as before, the Black Bears wasted no time in tying up the game as Spencer Abbott got his seventh goal of the season just a minute and a half later.

Diamond broke the tie in the third period, putting a puck past Huskies goaltender Chris Rawlings after he got a feed from teammate Adam Shemansky in front of the net.

Rawlings made 30 saves for the Huskies, while Sullivan only had to stop 17 shots to get the win.

“The first thing we wanted to do was to jump all over them right off the bat, take the crowd out of it, and we did that,” Rawlings said. We were right in it. Our power play kicked in for us which was good and it was nice to see them help out. Now we’ve just got to execute.”

The two teams will meet up again tomorrow night and do it all over again.

“I think they carried the play for most of the game but I think it was a good game,” Cronin said. “I think that our power play got a lot of energy in a positive way, we got two goals but all of our possessions were really good. We just have to build on that.”

Jared Shafran Hockey Maine

The Huskies play tough but lose on the road to Maine, 4-2.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, QuickCast Maine

Thursday, November 11

8:00 p.m. – Hockey East This Week

Friday, November 12

2:00 p.m. – CAA Full Court Press

3:00 p.m. – Dog Pound Sports Sound

Available only on WRBB Sports Extra (WRBBSports.com)
6:40 p.m. – Huskies Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Basketball: Huskies vs. Boston University Terriers
from Matthews Arena
with Patrick McHugh, Andy Towne, and Kainani Stevens

Airing on WRBB-FM and WRBBSports.com
6:45 p.m. – Huskies Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey: Huskies at Maine Black Bears
from Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine
with Alex Faust and Jared Shafran

Saturday, November 13

6:45 p.m. – Huskies Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Northeastern Hockey: Huskies at Maine Black Bears
from Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine
with Alex Faust and Jared Shafran

WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey, The Dog Pound BU, Maine

As the season approaches, Hockey East This Week takes a glance at the ten teams of Hockey East. To start things off, we’re looking at last year’s runners-up, the Maine Black Bears.

Last year: 19-17-3 (13-12-2), advanced to Hockey East championship game but failed to make the NCAA tournament.

What happened? So often in college hockey, teams have a knack of starting off slow but finishing the season in top form. Such was the case last year at Maine, which lost two early games to Union, and surged to the finish line. Their high-octane brand of offense, led by Hobey Baker contender Gustav Nyquist, was capable of bailing out their inconsistent defense on any given night. They were one win away from being Hockey East champions and in the NCAA tournament, having gone toe-to-toe with Boston College in the title game. But ultimately, their non-conference record (3-4-0) was their undoing, including those nagging losses to Union.

Key Losses:

• Scott Darling (G) – Kicked off the team due to disciplinary issues. While he was good between the pipes, he became a negative distraction.
• Dave Wilson (G) – Darling’s only reliable backup. If nothing else, it paves the way for an interesting battle for the starting goaltender’s job.
• Kevin Swallow (D) – Can 10 points really be considered a “key loss” on a team like this?

Key Returners:

• Gustav Nyquist (F) – 19 goals and 61 points speak for themselves.
• Jeff Dimmen (D) – Quietly put in a solid defensive performance for Maine last season, while adding just enough offense to keep his name familiar.
• Tanner House (F) – Beyond having an awesome last name, his six points during the Hockey East playoffs were the most on the team. For a clutch performer not named Gustafv, this might be your man.

The outlook: Maine returns virtually everyone. And I mean virtually everyone. If there’s any team that might match what Boston College did last season, Maine fits the billing. They need to shore up gaps on defense with the incoming recruiting class and settle on a starting goaltender, but if they can do those two things, they might be unstoppable.

Alex Faust Hockey Hockey East, Maine

>>> First, we quickly revisit last Thursday’s basketball game. [Providence Journal]

>>> Next, we very quickly move on from Saturday’s embarrassing hockey game. [USCHO]

>>> Michael Vega profiles Baptiste Bataille [Boston Globe]

>>> The Toronto Sun profiles Lori Antflick in advance of the Frozen Fenway. [Toronto Sun]

>>> Mike Litos runs down the weekend in CAA basketball. [CAA Hoops]

>>> Mr. Litos also posts a very interesting sharply-written letter from commissioner Tom Yeager to the management of the Richmond Coliseum. [CAA Hoops]

>>> The folks in Columbia, despite having a football program with as bleak a reputation a team can have, are confident that football is there to stay. Despite Northeastern and Hofstra pulling the plug. [The Columbia Spectator]

>>> At the University of Michigan, Andy Reid reminds folks complaining about Brian Kelley’s departure from Cincinatti that it could be a lot worse – at least the Bearcats still have a program. [The Michigan Daily]

WRBB Sports Basketball, Football, Hockey Maine, Rhode Island, women's hockey

Maine converts on four power-plays to take a decisive 5-1 victory over the Huskies.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

WRBB Sports Hockey, QuickCast Maine

Thursday, December 10

6:45 p.m. – Huskies Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Basketball: Huskies at Rhode Island Rams
from the Ryan Center in Kingston, R.I.
with Jason Lavine and Will Klaynman
TV:

Friday, December 11

3:00 p.m. – Dog Pound Sports Sound

Saturday, December 12

6:45 p.m. – Huskies Pre-Game
7:00 p.m. – Hockey: Huskies at Maine Black Bears
from Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine
with Keith Lavon and Jared Shafran

WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey Maine, Rhode Island