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ORONO – It was a classic performance by a man who has turned in a lot of them during his University of Maine career.
But senior goalie Scott King’s 29-save performance in Maine’s series-clinching 5-2 win over Bowling Green in their NCAA tournament first-round hockey game on Saturday night will always have to share the limelight with The Goal.
The Goal occurred while the Black Bears were clinging to a 3-2 lead in the second period and trying to stave off a two-man disadvantage (over 1:16).
With 21 seconds left in BG’s two-man advantage, King made a nice pad save on Nelson Emerson and Bear center Mike Barkley swept the puck the length of the ice.
Bowling Green senior goalie Paul Connell hurried out to play the puck.
“Maine was making a line change and I wanted to move the puck quickly up to Blakey (defenseman Rob Blake) or Nelson (center Emerson),” said Connell.
“I went to shoot it and it bounced right up over the top of my stick and into the net. It actually hit the top of my stick,” he explained. “The puck stayed on the ice all the way until it got to my stick and then it said `Let me jump.’ It hit a nick in the ice right in front of my stick. I should have stopped it first and then passed it but I was trying to make the quickest play possible.”
Bowling Green senior right winger and co-captain Joe Quinn said The Goal “changed the whole complexion of the game.” The 25-17-2 Falcons pressed the attack over the game’s final 26 minutes but King came up with some big saves and 33-9-2 Maine received an empty-net goal from Jean-Yves Roy to earn the trip to the University of Wisconsin for next weekend’s NCAA tournament quarterfinal series.
“King played really well,” said Emerson. “He’s always on his feet. He doesn’t go down. They have a great hockey team and when you put a guy like him in net, that makes it really tough.”
“King played a career game,” said Bowling Green Coach Jerry York. “I haven’t seen him play a lot of games but the game he played tonight was outstanding.”
Maine never trailed but the determined Falcons rallied from a pair of one-goal deficits until Jim Montgomery gave Maine the lead for good with a power-play goal midway through the second period.
Roy’s 15-footer off the far post gave Maine a 1-0 lead in the first period but Blake tied it 8:40 later when his wrist shot broke through the webbing of King’s glove.
King was replaced by Matt DelGuidice but equipment manager Steve Jones repaired King’s glove in time for the start of the second period.
BG had a great chance to take its first lead of the series when Emerson broke in alone with 14:51 left in the middle period. But King gloved Emerson’s 14-foot snap shot.
“I put it exactly where I wanted to but it went right into his glove,” said Emerson. “It was a great save.”
Keith Carney’s 20-foot wrist shot that glanced in off a BG defender gave Maine a 2-1 lead but Peter Holmes tied it 2:06 later when he tipped in Blake’s power-play drive.
Montgomery’s game-winner came at the 11:21 mark.
“Claudio (Scremin) took a shot and it hit one of their skates and went back to him,” said Montgomery. “He just wristed it towards the net and I intercepted it in the slot. I saw the upper hand corner, that’s all he (Connell) gave me, and I roofed it right over his (glove) shoulder.”
“It was a good shot,” said Connell. “He fired it just about straight up. There was a screen in front of me. I saw the shot take off but I didn’t see it after that. I just know it went in the net.”
Then came The Goal.
King said, “The team played really well, especially in the third period. The shots were basically from the outside and I was able to handle the rebounds. The guys were picking up men in front of the net so there were no second shots. And they let me see the shots.”
“What was interesting was that they had 66 (shot) attempts to our 46 but we had 27 Grade-A (high-percentage) attempts to their 16,” said Maine Coach Shawn Walsh. “Ninety percent of their shots were perimeter shots. Kinger stopped the puck and the team played really well in front of him. Our defensemen deserved a lot of credit.”
Walsh said another key was assistant coach Grant Standbrook’s suggestion to shadow Hobey Baker candidate Emerson in the third period. Martin Robitaille drew the assignment and held Emerson to one attempted shot.
“Taking him out of their offense removed their creativity,” said Walsh.
King was chosen the NEWS’ first star, Blake (1 goal, 1 assist) was the second star and Roy (2 goals) was the third star.
Attendance: 3,666
Black Bears 5, Falcons 2
Maine 1 3 1 – 5 Bowling Green1 1 0 – 2
First Period – 1. Maine, Roy 37 (Robitaille, Pellerin), 7:28; 2. BG, Blake 23 (unassisted), 16:08. Penalties – Maine, Lalonde, cross checking, 3:52; BG, NcWana, tripping, 9:27; BG, Klee, slashing, 18:04.
Second Period – 3. Maine, Carney 3 (Robitaille, Pellerin), 6:57; 4. BG, Holmes 18 (Blake, Emerson), 9:03; 5. Maine, Montgomery 25 (Downey, Scremin), 11:21; 6. Maine, Barkley 11 (King), 13:44. Penalties – Maine, Lalonde, holding, 8:44; BG, Potvin, interference, 10:50; Maine, Tepper, interference, 12:05; Maine, bench minor for too many men on the ice (served by Tomberlin), 12:49.
Third Period – 7. Maine, Roy 38 (Carney), 19:28. Penalties – Maine, Carney, holding, 16:03; BG, Blake, holding, 16:03.
Shots on goal: Maine 9-8-8 – 25; BG 11-13-8 – 32
Goaltenders: Maine, Scott King and Matt DelGuidice; BG, Paul Connell
Attendance: 3,754 (turnstile count)
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