By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

ORONO – Matt Duffy went from not scoring at all to scoring in bunches Saturday night.

The University of Maine freshman defenseman and Windham native not only notched his first goal as a Black Bear, but scored twice to help lead Maine to a 4-3 victory over Lowell at Alfond Arena.

“I can’t believe I got two goals in one game,” said Duffy. “(Scoring the second goal) I was like Oh my God, if I get a hat trick I’m think I’m going to pass out.'”

The win completed a sweep of the River Hawks in the Hockey East quarterfinals and earns the Black Bears a trip to the TD Banknorth Garden Friday, where Maine meets Boston College in the semifinals at 8 p.m.

“What a time for him to step up,” said Maine captain Greg Moore. “It’s the same thing I said last night about (Keith) Johnson’s goal (in overtime). The last couple of weeks a lot of guys have been contributing. Coming into the playoffs, and the end of the season, that’s what you need.”

Duffy scored a key first-period goal that tied the game at one, despite a strong opening period by Lowell. He later scored the third goal in the second period that gave Maine a 4-1 lead. Duffy has played the last four games after seeing limited action down the stretch.

“I felt great out there today,” said Duffy. “It’s about as much as I can do in a game. To be able to chip in two goals, it feels great.”

Lowell trimmed the deficit to one with two power play tallies late in the second period. Maine killed off a pair of power plays, and survived a late River Hawk rally with the goaltender pulled in the final minute.

“We responded really well,” said Moore, who scored his team-leading 26th goal of the year. “We kept working hard. We tried to keep the little things simple. We tried to be aggressive. We didn’t want to back off. (Ben) Bishop came up with some big saves toward the end.”

Maine broke a 1-1 tie with three goals in the first six minutes of the second period. Moore got the barrage started with a shot from the right circle just 27 seconds into the period.

The Black Bears were cruising with a pair of goals 53 seconds apart for a 4-1 lead. Billy Ryan tipped home a blast by Simon Danis-Pepin at 5:01 on the power play. Duffy netted his second of the game soon after, finishing off a two-on-one with Michel Leveille

“Levs gave me a good pass, and I just went to the top and pretty much had an open net,” said Duffy..

Lowell still had some fight left and rallied with a pair of power play tallies against the top-ranked penalty killing unit in the nation. With just three seconds left on a two-man advantage, J. R. Bria’s shot from the point was tipped in. Just 22 seconds later, Andrew Martin popped home a rebound to make it 4-3 with 7:24 left in the period.

“Those two goals within a minute of each other had us on our heels and took away momentum,” said Moore.

Lowell took an early 1-0 lead just 28 seconds into the game. Bobby Robins cut out of the left corner, skated to the net and tucked one past Bishop.

Maine, which was held without a shot for the first six minutes, survived the early scare and tied it with 8:40 left. Duffy scored his first goal as a Black Bear, firing a shot through traffic from the point.

“I got the puck off the side of the boards and just shot it,” said Duffy. “I got a break, and it went in the net.”