The Black Bears hold off a late charge to top the Wildcats.
By Peter Mullen
Staff Writer

ORONO – For about 55 minutes Friday night, the University of New Hampshire Wildcats were completely de-clawed.

Forget about the other five.

Fourth-ranked Maine scored three first-period goals off three different sticks then survived a late New Hampshire charge to post a 5-4 win over No. 8 UNH in Hockey East action here.

For the most part, it was a smothering effort on the part of Maine that held the offensive-minded Wildcats to 15 shots through the first two periods.

Unfortunately for the Black Bears, the team allowed a dozen in the final 20 minutes and three of the last four lit the red lamp.

“I think the next step for us is to develop that killer instinct,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “Not only for the end of tonight’s game, but for the second game of the series as well.”

It’s a familiar position for Maine. Last weekend, after a comfortable win at Boston University, the team was shut out 1-0 in the rematch.

Maine (18-6-1, 10-4-1 Hockey East) opened the scoring at the 7:23 mark of the first period.

Prestin Ryan corraled the puck behind the UNH net and fed John Ronan in the corner. Ronan found Mike Hamilton lurking in the slot and the freshman put the puck past UNH netminder Mike Ayers.

Dustin Penner made it a 2-0 game and earned an A for effort on the play four and a half minutes later. Damon fed Penner in the neutral zone and the junior worked his way through a pair of Wildcat (15-8-3, 7-4-3) defenders before beating Ayers.

“There was a turnover in the neutral zone,” said Penner. “I could tell the defender was backpedalling and he wouldn’t be able to play up as tight as he’d want to. I got lucky and make a luckier shot.”

Ronan drove the Alfond faithful crazy when he scored on a hit-and-run with seven and a half minutes left in the period as he saw the loose puck to Ayers’ left and poked it home as he skated by.

“I thought Jankus had it tied up,” said Ronan. “Then about five seconds later the crowd went bananas so I’ll take it. I didn’t know it till I got to the bench.”

We felt pretty confident after that first period,” said Penner. “We knew we had to keep it going but in the last five minutes we kind of had a letdown. UNH can get back into it pretty quick.”

The teams traded goals in the second. Colin Shields became the 34th member of Black Bear Hockey to reach the 100 point mark when his shot from 30 feet out in front was deflected over Ayers by Bangor’s Derek Damon.

UNH got on the board with a goal in the closing seconds of the period. Steve Saviano took the loose puck to the right of Doyle and put it in on the short side.

Todd Jackson rounded out the Maine scoring with what proved to be the game-winner when he finished off a bid by Ryan. Ryan had wrapped all the way around the net but the puck came off his stick and across the crease to Jackson. The Black Bear captain put it behind Ayers who was out of position. At the time, the goal didn’t seem important.

Ayers was pulled with 14:30 remaining in the game and replace with Jeff Pietrasiak.

UNH rallied in the game’s final minutes with two goals in less than a minute. The first, a power play goal by Saviano quieted the Alfond crowd and Daniel Winnik’s score silenced it completely to make it a 5-3 game.

Jacob Micflikier accounted for the final score with a New Hampshire goal with 15 seconds remaining.

“It just shows how explosive they are,” said Ronan. “They flipped the switch and some penalties hurt us. They turned it on a little bit and we didn’t match their intensity.”

The Wildcats kept the pressure on and had a six on four advantage in the final minute with their goaltender pulled and Jon Jankus in the box.

“The way it ended did weigh on me,” said Whitehead. “We came into the locker room and it felt like a loss.”

“Once we get recharged and get some sleep we will go back at it (tonight),” said Whitehead. “If the end of that game is any indication, it will be crazy.”

[email protected]