Monday, March 26, 2007
SEMIFINALS
Thursday, April 5
MAINE (23-14-2) vs. Michigan State (24-13-3),4 p.m. (ESPN2)
Boston College (28-11-1) vs. North Dakota (24-13-5), 8 p.m. (ESPN2)
FINAL
Saturday, April 7
Semifinal winners, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Perhaps, believes captain Michel Leveille, a wake-up call was exactly what his University of Maine hockey team needed.
The Black Bears were not exactly on fire entering the Hockey East tournament earlier this month.
Maine lost its final two regular-season games to the Minutemen at Amherst, Mass., then, a week later, were swept from the league tournement quarterfinals by Massachusetts.
Saturday night, with a renewed intensity and its No. 1 goalie back in net, Maine defeated UMass 3-1 when it mattered most to earn the program's second straight trip to the Frozen Four, and 11th overall.
Leveille was so happy, he nearly floated around the hallways in the lower level of Blue Cross Arena.
"We were so close to ending our season that it was an enormous wake-up call," he said. "We wanted to take this chance."
The shift in emotions has been overwhelming, agreed defenseman Mike Lundin.
"It's been a pretty high swing in emotions. Everyone in the locker room thought we were done" after the Hockey East playoffs, said Lundin. "We learned a lot from our losses to UMass. And getting another opportunity was enough of a spark for us."
Maine will have more than a week to prepare for its opponent in the national semifinal, Michigan State, before departing early next week for St. Louis.
The Spartans (24-13-3) defeated Boston University on Friday and Notre Dame Saturday to take the Midwest Regional. The semifinal will be played at 4 p.m. on April 5.
Boston College plays North Dakota in the other semifinal.
Maine defeated St. Cloud State 4-1 on Friday before topping the Minutemen.
The key to the Black Bears' weekend was simple: the return of goalie Ben Bishop, prowess on all-important special teams and renewed intensity.
"He came back and played unbelievable for two games," said Lundin."He's the backbone of our team. He deserves to get this chance."
Maine also killed 15 penalties -- including lengthy five-on-threes each night -- and allowed just one power-play goal, scored by UMass captain Matt Anderson.
A fifth shot at Massachusetts seemed to rev the team's collective psyche.
"They really burst our bubble," said Mike Hamilton. "We knew there was a small chance of getting in if some teams helped us out.
"And if we got in we knew anything could happen."
Massachusetts Coach Don Cahoon said the Black Bears' tournament experience appeared to help.
"They certainly played like a team that had been in this situation many times before," said Cahoon.
Anderson agreed: "They really set the tempo. You give a talented team like Maine chances, and they're going to cash in. It's a real credit to their program and what they do."
Staff Writer Jenn Menendez can be contacted at 791-6426 or at:
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