By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

Just about anytime Jimmy Howard is in goal for the University of Maine hockey team, the Black Bears have a puncher’s chance.

Saturday afternoon, the Maine goaltender put his team one big blow away from a NCAA Western Regional Semifinal victory, but the Black Bears couldn’t deliver the knockout punch.

Instead, it was freshman Evan Kaufmann scoring one minute and 46 seconds into overtime to lift the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers to a 1-0 win over the Black Bears.

“I am very proud of the way these guys played today,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “Jimmy Howard and our captain John Ronan did an excellent job. The guys left everything on the ice. We really became a team this year. It took us a while to get things going in the right direction, but at the end, we were a team. This one is a tough one to swallow, but Minnesota is a great team.”

All three NCAA Tournament games between Maine and Minnesota have gone to overtime, the last being a 4-3 victory in 2002 when the Gophers won the National Championship on a power play goal.

The Black Bears (20-13-7) also ended their season with a 1-0 loss for the second year in a row. Maine lost to Denver in the National Championship by the same score at the FleetCenter in Boston last April.

“You always want to win your last game,” said Ronan. “Unfortunately I didn’t get that chance this year. It’s really similar to last year. It’s tough.”

Saturday, at Mariucci Arena, Howard picked up where he left off with his superb play from last weekend’s overtime loss to Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals. Howard made 37 saves and kept the Black Bears in the game, despite being outshot by Minnesota, 38-25.

Maine couldn’t produce the goal it needed. The Black Bears were shutout on four power play attempts, making them 0-for-10 in their last two games. Minnesota netminder Kellen Briggs made 25 stops for his fourth shutout of the year.

“As far as our overall performance, it’s hard to say right now,” said Whitehead. “I thought we competed very hard and played pretty smart. We took a few too many penalties. I think we used our sticks a few too many times.”

Though Minnesota (27-14-1) had nine power play chances, it couldn’t solve Howard for much of the game. Though the Olympic-size rink served the Gophers well, Minnesota couldn’t bury its chances until overtime.

As the Gophers cycled down low in the Maine defensive end, two Black Bear defenders were caught behind the goal in pursuit of the puck. Garrett Smaagaard won possession and quickly fed Kaufmann in front of the net for a quick release. Five of Kaufmann’s seven goals this year were the first strike in the game.

Minnesota, which was missing top scorer Tyler Hirsch for personal reasons and all-star defenseman Alex Goligoski to a hand injury, managed to put plenty of pressure on Maine’s defense and Howard from start to finish.

Though both clubs had 11 shots in the first period, the Golden Gopher’s had the better of the opportunities. In the second, Maine had some better chances. Keith Johnson set up Derek Damon in front early in the period. Billy Ryan had a slapper off a Keenan Hopson feed. Jon Jankus hit the post with a shot from the left side with 10:35 left. The Black Bears had a late power play and Michel Leveille fed Josh Soares for a shot down that went wide. Greg Moore had a blast on that man advantage that Briggs saved.

The Gophers, which outshot Maine 17-9 in the second, had its chances in the second as well. Irmen had a one-timer on an early power play. Howard made a glove save on Kris Chucko from the right side on a three-on-one rush. He also made a pad save on Ryan Potulny and gloved a bid by Nate Hagemo on a late power play.

Both teams struggled to make things happen on early power plays in the third, but Minnesota had some pressure on a pair of late Maine penalties. Mike Vannelli, Danny Irmen and Chucko all tested Howard following a Johnson hitting-from-behind penalty with 7:29 left. Then a holding call on Steve Mullin gave the Gophers another crack with 3:30 left. Howard made a game-saver with 2:42 left. He slid across the crease to stop a Derek Peltier chance off an Irmen feed.