By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

ORONO – It didn’t take long for the University of Lowell hockey team to realize it was in a hole Friday night.

Little did the River Hawks know how deep a ditch it was.

John Ronan scored 69 seconds into the game Friday night, sparking a 3-0 first period from which UMass-Lowell never recovered. The Black Bears went on to strike the first blow in their best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series with a convincing 7-2 victory at Alfond Arena.

“It was real surprising,” said Ronan. “We wanted to get out to a real good lead. To get three goals in the first period was very surprising against a good team. We were very happy with that.”

Maine (19-11-7) outshot Lowell 37-26 overall and scored four power-play goals. If it had been a heavyweight fight, it might have been stopped in the early going. The River Hawks (20-11-4) will have a chance to get up off the mat today, hoping to force a decisive third game Sunday. A Maine win Saturday would send the Black Bears to the FleetCenter next Friday for the semifinals.

“We beat ourselves and we lost to a very good team,” said Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald, whose club lost to Maine late in the regular season 2-0 and 5-3. “We played hard right to the finish and played a real good third period. We’re playing a real good UMaine team, but this game means nothing. In a best-of-three series, the second game is always the most important – no matter what. So it’s a matter of turning the page and moving on to tomorrow.”

Maine was ranked 12th in the latest USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and the U.S. College Hockey Online poll. Lowell was 14th and 15th respectively.

“We win, we’re moving on,” said Ronan. “That’s all we have to be think about. We know they’re not going to let down.”

Maine’s success on the power play had the Black Bears closing in on their own Hockey East playoff record. Maine had 11 power-play tries and eight goals in a quarterfinal win over Lowell in 1990. The Black Bears scored four on eight attempts Friday.

“We worked a lot on our power play this week, and it worked” said Ronan. “Getting some power play goals always helps.”

Maine thoroughly dominated the opening period, outshooting Lowell 18-4. The Black Bears managed three goals amidst six power-play chances. Maine even had a two-man advantage for nearly two minutes.

“We beat ourselves, and they beat us,” said MacDonald. “We had three-and-a-half minutes of five-on-three to kill. That gave them a lot of momentum, and it beat us up.”

Keith Johnson finished with two goals for the Bears while Ronan had a goal and an assist. Brett Tyler added a goal and two assists. Black Bear goaltender Jimmy Howard made 26 saves, making a flurry of stops in the second to keep Lowell scoreless

“The guys did a great job,” said Howard. “We didn’t let their big guns get going.”.

Maine scored just 1:09 into the game. Ronan took a Jon Jankus face-off win and wristed it to the top of the net from the right circle.

“I snapped it,” said Ronan. “I wish I could say I picked a corner, but I just let it fly.”

Though the Black Bears had ample opportunity to add to the lead, Lowell survived some power-play threats. That included a stretch where the River Hawks had three players whistled off for minor penalties, giving the Black Bears a five-on-three for 1:26 and then another for 33 seconds. Maine managed just three shots during that stretch and came up empty. Two more power plays didn’t produce anything, but with 6:20 left in the period, Derek Damon made it 2-0.

Damon took the puck off the end boards and flipped it upstairs at the right post on Maine’s 14th shot of the game. The Black Bears added another power play with 1:14 left in the period. Michel Leveille wristed one from the high slot.

“I thought (John) Yaros made some great saves early,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “It seemed like it was going to be tough to score. Then before you know it, we get a bounce and that broke the dam. I think he was great early in the game. We just persevered and kept getting pucks to the net and the next bounce went for us.”

Maine added three more goals in the second period. Tyler scored on the power play with a low shot from the point 5:24 into the period. With three minutes left, Johnson finished off breakaway with a backhander. Then the Black Bears got another power play tally with nine seconds left in the period. Greg Moore one-timed a Tyler pass from the point.

Lowell replaced Yaros with Chris Davidson in the third period. Johnson managed his second of the game with 9:39 left with a cue-shot off the pads of the goaltender from the right corner.

The River Hawks spoiled Howard’s bid for the shutout. Cleve Kinley tucked it under a sprawled Howard with 4:19 left to play. Howard was given the rest of the night off, replaced by Matt Lundin. Lowell got a goal off him with 3:48 on a Brian Bova wrister.

“It’s awesome but it’s not over yet,” said Howard. “We still have one more game to win. We can’t be satisfied. Just because we won by 7-2 it could have been a lot closer than it was. We’ve just got to start thinking about tomorrow and get focused.”