By Kevin Mills,Staff Writer

ORONO – When Tim Whitehead stopped practice the other day, it was to get his Maine Black Bears in a proper frame of mind.

His hockey team had already beaten UMass-Lowell to reach Friday’s Hockey East semifinals, but getting to the TD Banknorth Garden was just part of the plan for the Black Bears. Now Maine had to practice like it was preparing for Boston College. He halted practice to try to drive home that point.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence and after we refocused at one point, we actually had a good scrimmage,” said Whitehead. “They’re very strong in that area. This team tends to practice well, and that’s why I think we’ve been playing well.”

The Black Bears hope to keep momentum going tonight against the Eagles. Maine has gone unbeaten in its last 10 games (8-0-2) and swept BC in three regular season matches. The Black Bears won at Chestnut Hill, 2-1, back in October and won a pair in Orono, 4-1 and 3-1.

“We’ve just got to keep the momentum going when we get to Boston,” said defenseman Matt Duffy, who had two goals in the series-clincher against the River Hawks.

Maine is ranked fifth in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll and sixth in the USCHO/CSTV poll. Boston College is ranked ninth and 10th respectively. The winner advances to the Hockey East championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Last fall, Maine overcame a 1-0 deficit on the road and got goals from Derek Damon and Billy Ryan in the 2-1 victory. Then in February, the Black Bears had goals from Josh Soares, Michel Leveille and Damon in the first period in the 4-1 victory. The following night, Rob Bellamy broke a 1-1 tie and Bret Tyler added a goal in the second period.

“We were working hard,” said Maine captain Greg Moore. “We did the little things that consistently we sometimes don’t normally do, like trying to get bodies and pucks to the net and getting it deep. We just did the little things that create the wins that we need.”

Ben Bishop earned all three wins in goal, averaging 28 saves in each outing. Maine’s penalty kill, the best in the nation, blanked BC on 15 tries on the man advantage.

“We played pretty strong games against them,” said Bishop. “They’re going to have revenge on their minds for us. So we have to be ready for that.”

The Eagles, which beat Maine in last year’s semifinal in overtime, went 3-4-1 in their last eight games, including the two losses to Maine.

The Eagles boast one of the nation’s top scorers in Chris Collins, who has 30 goals and 27 assists. He leads the nation in points per game (1.58) and is third in goals per game (0.83) and short-handed goals (5). Collins had a number of breakaway chances in last year’s 2-1 victory but could not beat Maine goaltender Jimmy Howard. BC’s sophomore goaltender Cory Schneider stymied Maine as a freshman last year but had all three losses against the Black Bears this year, finishing the year 20-11-2 with a 2.20 goals against.

“It’s going to be exciting,” said Moore. “Anytime you’re at the (Garden), it’s a great atmosphere, and it should be a lot of fun. BC is a great team with a lot of speed. We have to be sure we prepare for them. We’re looking forward to it.”

In Maine’s two playoff wins over the Rivers Hawks, the Black Bears had to come from behind in the third period to win Friday and held off a late rally Saturday after the River Hawks stole momentum with a pair of power play goals. Maine knows it has to be more consistent and avoid the lapses it had last weekend.

“It was a little bit shaky, but we’re getting down to the Garden,” said Bishop. “That’s all that matters. We’re excited about it. It’s the top four teams in the league. So anybody can win down there. We’ve just got to play a strong game.”