Unreliable defense plaguing UMaine> Bears receive reality check after 7-0 loss

Normally, when the University of Maine hockey team returns from a road trip the players relax and watch a movie. After the Black Bears’ 7-0 loss to New Hampshire Saturday at Durham, N.H., they got on the bus and watched the game tape.

The Bears have not lost by seven or more goals since Jan. 4, 1986, when they finished 11-28-1.

But this season, the Bears have been as bad as they’ve been brilliant, losing three games by five or more goals and winning three games by five or more.

Granted, the three large losses were against Top 10 teams, but the inconsistent play has become a major point of concern for the Bears, who are now 7-5-1.

Maine coach Shawn Walsh said the problem with his young team is its defense has been unreliable. When Maine’s defense is executing, it allows the offense – particularly Maine’s special teams – to roll, but, when the defense is struggling, the Bears tend to fall into a hole.

“Defense allows you to stay in the game. It allows you to be consistent,” Walsh said. “As a team, we’ve played poorly defensively, by and large. Defensively, we have to play better against really good teams to be looked at as a good team.”

Maine’s senior captains said watching the rerun of the game Saturday was an eye-opener showing weak areas of their game that they thought were stronger.

“Watching it right then, it was a reality check,” Shawn Wansborough said. “As I watched it, I realized my game wasn’t as good as I thought. I played a level lower than I had thought. There are some things I could have done differently.”

Brian White said he realized watching the tape that Maine didn’t have as many good scoring chances as he thought and permitted UNH too many. UNH outshot Maine by only three shots, but UNH had 13 shots on its five power-play opportunities, while Maine had just six shots on its four.

“I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t painful [watching the tape], especially a team like UNH that we’ve had success against in the past,” White said. “But it was a learning experience we needed to do in order to get better.”

White said the Bears’ tendency is that they get relaxed when they win the first game and let down the second night and, when they lose, they get emotional and play hard on Saturday.

The one clear trend is that when Maine falls behind in a game, it is not able to catch up. Maine has never won when it has trailed after the first or the second period in a game this season.

“I think if we got one [goal] early, it might have changed the complexion of the game,” White said about Saturday’s loss. “We had a 4-on-2, then a penalty was called, and they were on the power play. think overall, defensively, we didn’t play that strong to help out our goalies.”

Walsh said the Bears need to play with more confidence, and he must find a way to get the team to do that.

As the Bears prepare for four road games before a two-week break, Wansborough said the key for Maine will be to play with faith and fortitude.

“We don’t want to get beat up mentally. We don’t want it to have a negative effect, like in January, unless it effects us in a positive way,” he said.