March 26, 2006
East Regional | Regional Final
Maine Wins Tug-of-War
Black Bears hold off Michigan State to advance to Frozen Four

By Joe Gladziszewski

Maine 5, Michigan State 4
Team	Goal	Str
Time	Assists
First Period
1-ME	Matt Duffy (3)	EV
3:13	D. Damon
2-ME	John Hopson (9)	EV
10:21	M. Hamilton, K. Hopson
3-ME	John Hopson (10)	PP
16:38	M. Duffy, K. Hopson
1-MS	Tim Crowder (16)	PP
19:16	D. Booth, T. Kennedy
Second Period
4-ME	Derek Damon (15)	PP
3:35	J. Soares, Mike Lundin
2-MS	Tim Crowder (17)	PP
8:00	T. Kennedy, D. Booth
3-MS	Jim McKenzie (11)	EV
19:00	B. Lerg, C. Mueller
Third Period
5-ME	Greg Moore (28)	EN
19:23	J. Soares
4-MS	Drew Miller (18)	EV
19:55	Unassisted
Goaltending
ME: Ben Bishop, 60:00, 33 saves, 4 GA
MS: Jeff Lerg, 59:14, 29 saves, 4 GA
Penalties: ME 7/14; MS 5/10
Power Plays: ME 2-2; MS 2-4
Attendance: 4,470
All-Regional Team
G: Ben Bishop, Maine D: Matt Duffy, Maine D: Corey Potter, Michigan State F: Tim Crowder, Michigan State F: John Hopson, Maine (MVP) F: Michel Leveille, Maine

ALBANY, N.Y. – The Maine Black Bears established momentum in Sunday’s NCAA East Regional right from the drop of the puck. Hanging on to that momentum proved to be much more difficult. Michigan State and Maine engaged in a tug-of-war with spurts and streaks all afternoon. The Black Bears won the struggle and won the game 5-4.

Maine was clearly stronger from the outset. A face-off goal 3:13 into the game set the tone. The Black Bears won loose-puck battles on the wall and created scoring chances and shots on net. Another goal followed with 9:39 left in the first period and Michigan State coach Rick Comley fired the first shot in the momentum war by calling a timeout.

“I just told them to believe. We worked so hard to get here and improved so much. We’re on such a good upbeat run,” Comley said. “You only get one timeout in hockey and it’s a question of when to use it. We were just trying to put some positive thoughts back in their heads. These kids have not quit all year.”

It worked in the short term but Michigan State senior David Booth let any Michigan State momentum slip away when he took a roughing penalty behind the play. Maine cashed in a power-play goal to take a 3-0 lead.

The Black Bears were cruising but Michigan State’s Tim Crowder scored on a rush to give the Spartans some energy heading into the dressing room. Michigan State started strongly in the second period, forcing Maine goalie Ben Bishop to make two very good saves on Tyler Howells and Bryan Lerg.

With things going in Michigan State’s favor for the first time in the game, another penalty slowed their progress. Tim Kennedy was whistled for checking from behind and Maine converted on the power play once again when Derek Damon buried a cross-ice pass from Josh Soares.

“It’s difficult to get back,” Comley said. “When you can’t get back soon enough then you’ve got to fight the battle and climb the hill again. It seemed like we had to do that and when you’re trying to come back you’re going to take some penalties. You just are.”

As they had done all game long, Michigan State came back strong. Crowder’s second goal of the game reduced the deficit to two goals. Jim McKenzie then snuck one past the glove of Bishop in the final minute of the second period to get Michigan State right back into the contest. It caused some concern in the Maine dressing room, but it was their turn to regain momentum.

“They made it a 4-3 game and we were kind of down but coach came into the locker room and said if we could’ve been asked for a one-goal lead coming in we would’ve taken that anytime,” Soares said. “We just wanted to come out and play a great defensive game and keep working and we did that.”

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Black Bears' Brothers in Arms

Maine captain Greg Moore admitted that his team might have sat back in the third period once they regained a three-goal lead, but they knew that they had to change that attitude in the final period.

“We just felt like we needed to go back to playing the way we did in the first period,” senior captain Greg Moore said. “We needed to get back to taking time and space away from them and try to play as much hockey in their end as possible.”

They pulled together and pulled it out.

DAMON RETURNS

Maine senior Derek Damon returned to the Black Bear lineup after serving a one-game team suspension and made a distinct impact on the proceedings Sunday afternoon. Damon was Maine’s third-leading scorer on the season. He won the face-off that resulted in Maine’s opening goal and then cashed in a one-timer on a second-period power play to give the Black Bears a 4-1 advantage.

Damon’s return meant that freshman Chris Hahn left the lineup. Hahn played Saturday on a line with John and Keenan Hopson. In the win over Michigan State on Sunday, Mike Hamilton filled Hahn’s spot on the wing with the Hopsons after centering Keith Johnson and Billy Ryan on Saturday.

INCH's Three Stars of the Weekend

3. Greg Moore, Maine You don’t notice anything special about the senior captain and Hobey Baker finalist because he’s efficient and makes the correct, simple plays so effortlessly. He was extremely poised on Sunday’s game-clinching empty-net goal. 2. Tim Crowder, Michigan State The Spartan freshman accounted for three of State’s five goals on the weekend including Saturday’s game-winner. He’s the finisher on a high-energy line that is comprised of three rookies. 1. John Hopson, Maine He transferred to Maine from Alaska Anchorage for an opportunity to play on a team with his younger brother Keenan. Even better, they play on the same line. John averages a point for every two games he plays, but scored three times on the weekend including twice in the first period on Sunday.

SEEN AND HEARD AT PEPSI ARENA

• Maine is now 5-0 all-time at Pepsi Arena. All of those games have come in NCAA Regionals. After the game, the Maine section chanted, "This is our house!"

• Michigan State shuffled its lineup during the game on Sunday as senior right wing Colton Fretter swapped places with Jim McKenzie. Fretter was partnered with David Booth and Drew Miller while McKenzie played with Chris Mueller and Bryan Lerg.

• Some Maine fans might have wondered if bad memories were intentionally directed toward them. Steve Piotrowski was the referee for their game against Harvard on Saturday afternoon. Piotrowski, as you might remember, was the official that administered the 2002 National Championship game that Maine lost in overtime, on a power-play goal by Minnesota.

Also on Saturday, the NCAA highlight video from past championship games included the closing seconds of Denver’s 2004 title game victory over the Black Bears.

• The Albany River Rats merchandise store was not open during the weekend for college hockey fans that might’ve wanted to pick up some American Hockey League souveniers. Of particular interest for Michigan State fans might have been the Steve Guolla sweater on display. Guolla attended Michigan State from 1991-95 and recently played parts of three seasons with the Rats.

• Awkward bounces of the puck are common at the Pepsi Arena and seemed to happen with even greater frequency in the Maine defensive zone during the second period. The Black Bears were unfortunate to have to deal with wayward pucks, but fortunate that it didn’t directly lead to any goals against.

• Lansing State Journal hockey writer Neil Koepke has been covering the game for almost 30 years and has seen all of the wonderful people and places the sport has to offer. When he calls Albany’s Bayou Café, “one of the great bars in college hockey,” it shouldn’t be taken lightly.

PLUSSES AND MINUSES

Sunday afternoon’s attendance was just 4,470 but those in attendance were enthusiastic. Having school bands from Michigan State and Maine helped give the arena some energy and school mascots Sparty and Bananas joined the festivities.

Michigan State coach Rick Comley was decisive and emphatic on saying that a wraparound shot by Colton Fretter hit the crossbar and didn’t go into the net when prodded to produce controversy by some members of the Michigan State media.

The public address announcer a the Pepsi Arena was at least minus-2 after making a handful of announcements updating fans of the college basketball game between Connecticut and George Mason. If people were interested, they would’ve chosen to stay home and watch it. Even worse, during the introduction of Maine’s starting defenseman Travis Wight both days, the announcer called him Travis Right.

Although two one-goal games were played at the East Regional, none of them went to overtime and just one game of 11 played thus far needed extra time. It deprives fans of the most exciting way to end a postseason contest.

[Ed.: After filing this note, Gladziszewski adjourned to Jillian's in Albany and watched three overtimes of the Wisconsin-Cornell game.]

WHAT'S NEXT

Maine makes its 10th trip to the Frozen Four and fifth trip in the last eight years. The Black Bears won the national championship in 1999 and have a playoff-style team that can outwork and frustrate opponents.

Michigan State coach Rick Comley and junior captain Drew Miller called the loss a learning experience and they expect that it will help the team next season. A young lineup for the Spartans learned how to win this year and re-established Michigan State among the national powers in college hockey. The next step is to return to the Frozen Four and Michigan State will be among the favorites to achieve that in 2007.