Greg Moore and Todd Jackson each drop in a pair of goals for Maine.
By Justin Pelletier
Staff Writer

ORONO – They struck first, last, and four times in between.

The University of Maine Black Bears parlayed two goals each from Greg Moore and Todd Jackson and one each from John Ronan and Colin Shields into a solid 6-2 win over the Merrimack Warriors in front of 5,501 fans at Alfond Arena Thursday night.

“It’s always good to get a win at home, and especially a conference win,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “The wins against conference teams count like double, because you get the points for the NCAA and for the conference race.”

The win gives Maine the best start in the team’s history at 6-0, and ensures a perfect November.

“It’s nice to start that well, and there’s a sense of pride there,” said Whitehead, “but it’s so early. We have to make sure it doesn’t get to our heads.”

Maine entered the game as the No.1-ranked team in the country, and will test that ranking against No. 7 Boston University Saturday.

On Thursday, though, Maine was in control from the start. And even in the third when Merrimack threatened to make a run, the Black Bears found a way to maintain their pressure on Warrior junior goaltender Casey Guenther, who made 34 saves on 40 shots in the losing effort.

Merrimack scored a goal with nine minutes to play to draw to make it 4-2, but Maine wasn’t finished. Moore scored his second of the night on a tip-in in front of the net to push the lead to 5-2, and just 35 seconds later Jackson notched his second of the night to finish the Warriors off.

“We’ve been stressing solid third periods in the locker room all year,” said Jackson. “We’ve been doing well at that all year, and it showed again tonight.”

Maine got on the board first just 4:30 into the game when John Ronan knocked home a rebound off of a Mike Hamilton miss to put the Black Bears up 1-0.

Merrimack evened the score at one on a fluke goal by Marco Rosa at 9:13 that squeaked past goaltender Jimmy Howard’s skate against the right post. Bryan Schmidt chased a loose puck into the right corner and swatted it toward the net where the puck hit Howard’s skate.

“I felt it hit my skate,” said Howard. “I went to go cover it and Rosa had already poked it past me.”

Moore retaliated with a circus goal at 13:49, catching a flip pass from behind the net in one hand and holding a defender off with another. Moore dropped the puck to the ice at his feet, kicked it to his stick and poked it past Guenther to re-establish a one-goal lead.

“Jackson tried to get it to me and it flipped up into the air,” said Moore. “I was trying to get position on the defender and I caught it, set it down and managed to get my stick on it.”

Todd Jackson scored his fourth short-handed goal of the season with 39 seconds left in the period. He took a long lead pass from Derek Damon along the left boards and beating Guenther low to the blocker side with a wrister.

“Damon made a good pass on a turnover,” said Jackson. The defenseman was coming at me and I didn’t have time to deke, so I just shot at the weakest spot.”

Merrimack tallied its final goal at 10:51 of the third when Howard chased a puck behind the net and tripped. Matt Johnson sent the puck from the corner in front to Rosa, who tapped it in for his second of the game.

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