ALBANY, N.Y. – It was like deja vu all over again for Lisbon’s Greg Moore, except this time, he was the hero.

The similarities weren’t lost on Moore. Little more than three months after being on the winning side of a dramatic comeback in the World Junior Hockey Championships in Helsinki, Finland, he was celebrating a memorable comeback once again, this time in Albany, N.Y., and in a jersey that read “Maine” rather than “USA”.

“This was almost the exact same thing as happened in Finland,” Moore said. “Basically, the same thing happened between the second and third period in both situations. It was quiet in the locker room. Everyone knew what we had to do, and in both instances, the hard work and getting some lucky bounces from the hard work paid off in the third period. And it’s almost the exact same feeling.”

In the first instance, Moore’s USA Junior squad was down to Canada, 3-1 heading into the third period. The United States won the game on a fluke goal by one of Moore’s teammates that deflected off a Canada defenseman.

Moore’s game-winning goal for Maine in Friday night’s 5-4 comeback over Harvard was hardly flukey. But it was the result of a fortunate bounce off the boards, some hard work by teammate Michele Leveille to collect the puck, and some savvy by Moore to be in the right place at the right time to take Leveille’s pass in the left circle and fire it past the Harvard goalie.

To hear the former St. Dom’s star tell it, that goal was the culmination of that win in Helsinki and all of the big games that he played before.

“That experience in Finland, especially the comeback, and the tournaments that I’ve been able to play in, helped a lot,” he said. “When it comes down to big moments like this, it just calms your nerves and you play it as if it’s your first shift of the game.”

“It feels really good,” he added. “Any kid dreams of scoring a game-winning goal at any time. But I can’t get much of the credit. The team did most of it. It just feels good to get some confidence.”

Down 4-1 in the third period, Maine needed to get its confidence back quickly. But according to Moore, the Black Bears weren’t as low as one might think confronting such a large deficit.

“I don’t doubt that everyone on this team believed that we could come back. If one guy didn’t believe it, I don’t think it would have happened,” Moore said. “It’s just hard work. The heart on this team is unbelievable.”

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