March 28, 2024
BANGOR DAILY NEWS (BANGOR, MAINE

Hockey Bears find consolation with ties> Battle UMass-Lowell to 4-4 deadlocks

BILLERICA, Mass. – The University of Maine hockey team went winless against the University of Massachusetts-Lowell during the weekend, but the Black Bears did not come up empty.

Patrice Tardif scored two goals in the last three minutes Sunday afternoon, helping Maine bounce back for a 4-4 overtime tie against the Chiefs at Tully Forum after tying the hosts 4-4 here Saturday night.

Maine came away with two valuable Hockey East points and sent a message that there’s plenty of fight left in the defending national champions.

Maine’s record goes to 11-14-3 overall, 6-9-3 in league play. UMass-Lowell stands at 16-6-7, 9-4-6 in Hockey East.

“I think we sent a statement to the league,” said Maine coach Shawn Walsh. “I say to them on the bench that if anybody can handle the adversity, we can. If there’s such a thing as a good tie, this was one.”

The Chiefs appeared to be headed for victory Sunday, but the Black Bears displayed tremendous resiliency and heart in the late going.

Tardif sparked Maine’s comeback on the power play. Mike Latendresse, who was suspended for Saturday’s game for missing a class, rushed down the left side and fed a pass into the slot. Tardif snapped a shot inside the far post with 2:51 to play.

“I’ve got a world of respect for our players’ fortitude,” Walsh said. “We’re really improving. Games like this make you smarter, make you better.”

Maine got the equalizer less than 2 minutes later. This time, Latendresse dug the puck out of the corner to Dan Shermerhorn.

Tardif settled the bouncing pass and fired a shot between Dwayne Roloson’s pads to make it 4-4.

“That’s the sign of a great team, I think, when we come like today,” Tardif said. “We were down the whole game, almost, but the guys stayed right in it and worked really hard. Everybody put in the extra effort at the end to tie the game, and we’re pretty happy with a couple ties this weekend.”

UMass-Lowell outshot Maine 3-1 in the extra period, but neither team could convert.

The Bears trimmed the deficit to 3-2 at 11:53 of the third on a power play. Justin Tomberlin made a strong rush down left wing, faked a pass to the middle and snuck a shot between Roloson and the near post.

The Chiefs made it 4-2 52 seconds later when Mike Murray spun around and beat Blair Allison to the short side at the 12:45 mark.

Yet, Maine refused to quit.

The Chiefs held the Bears scoreless in the second period and took a 2-1 lead with another power-play goal. Mike Murray, camped to the right of the net, took a nice pass from the high slot by Shane Henry and slammed a shot past Allison at 4:23.

UMass-Lowell limited Maine’s offensive opportunities and forced the Bears to settle for long-range shots. Roloson did make one beautiful save, going out to the left sideboards to play the puck, then outracing a Jason Mansoff shot from the right point in time to stick it away.

Allison kept Maine within a goal with a superb, close-range save on Eric Brown who had moved in alone when Mansoff failed to handle the puck in the defensive zone.

“We were lugging the puck too much individually,” Walsh said. “It was hard to get anything going. It was two real tired clubs.”

The Bears made things more difficult for themselves in the first period by picking up six penalties. But they killed off all but one.

The Bears jumped ahead 1-0 only 25 seconds into the contest. Cal Ingraham picked up a loose rebound and deposited a backhander between Roloson’s pads.

UMass-Lowell evened things up on a power play when Shane Henry gathered in the rebound of his own blast from the circle to Allison’s right and lifted a shot over the sprawled Maine goaltender.

The Chiefs outshot the Bears 15-10 in the period that was marked by plenty of hard-hitting action at both ends of the rink. Maine’s Wayne Conlan went out at the 10:03 mark with a bruised right leg after getting drilled into the boards by Christian Sbrocca.

Dave MacIsaac went out in the third with a twisted left knee.

Bears 4, Chiefs 4

(Sunday’s Game) Maine 1 0 3 0 – 4 UMass-Lowell 1 1 2 0 – 4

First Period – 1. Maine, Ingraham 7 (Lovell), :25; 2. UML, Henry 10 (Daw, Sbrocca), 8:20; Penalties – Maine, Conlan, high-sticking, 0:00; UML, Henry, slashing, 0:00; Maine, Conlan, roughing, 3:28; Maine, Silverman, slashing, 4:54; Maine, Lovell, holding stick, 7:10; UML, Sbrocca, charging, 10:03; UML, Angus, delay of game, 11:43; Maine, Mansoff, holding, 17:15; UML, Bullock, 20:00; Maine, Pineau, late hit, 20:00

Second Period – 3. UML, Murray 12 (Henry, Bullock), 4:23; Penalties – Maine, Purdie, interference, 3:54; Maine, Cardinal, tripping, 9:10; UML, Campbell, boarding, 19:17

Third Period – 4. UML, Donovan (una), 1:26; 5. Tomberlin 6 (Ingraham), 11:53; 6. Murray 13 (Henry, Bullock), 12:45; 7. Maine, Tardif 16 (Latendresse), 17:09; 8. Maine, Tardif 17 (Shermerhorn, Latendresse), 19:04; Penalties – UML, Campbell, boarding, 5;24; Maine, Weinrich, high-sticking, 9:37; UML, Botto, high-sticking, 9:37; UML, Mahoney, interference, 10:22; UML, Botto, holding, 15:57

Overtime – No Scoring; Penalties – Maine, Weinrich, roughing, 5:00; Maine, Weinrich, late hit, 5:00; Maine, Lovell, late hit, 5:00; UML, Sbrocca, late hit, 5:00; UML, Bullock, late hit, 5:00

Shots on goal: Maine 10-8-16-1 – 35; UMass-Lowell 15-7-8-3 – 33

Goaltenders: Maine, Blair Allison; UMass-Lowell, Dwayne Roloson


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