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ORONO – Interim head coach Tim Whitehead liked what he saw from his University of Maine Black Bear hockey team during their annual Blue-White game Sunday.
Whitehead, who is replacing the late Shawn Walsh, called it a “good day.”
The White team received a goal and an assist from junior center Martin Kariya and a goal apiece from his linemate, junior Michael Schutte, along with sophomore defenseman Francis Nault en route to a spirited 3-1 victory before 1,700 fans.
The teams played two 25-minute halves.
Chris Heisten scored for the Blue team and was assisted by freshmen Troy Barnes and Ben Murphy.
Freshmen Jon Jankus and John Ronan had assists for the White team.
The three goalies rotated teams. Senior Matt Yeats made 18 saves on 19 shots; senior Mike Morrision had 29 stops and allowed a pair of goals and newcomer Frank Doyle, who won’t be eligible until next season, stopped 13 of 14 shots.
“The guys skated hard and they were pretty physical,” said Whitehead, the head coach at UMass-Lowell the past five seasons. “There was a good tempo. The tempo was quicker than I thought it would be. We’ve got to work on playing a little smarter.”
Junior Tommy Reimann, who was making his debut on defense after two years as a winger, said he felt “all right” on the blue line “but I’ve got to work on the defensive aspect of my game.”
He was optimistic about the team.
“We’ll have a fast team and we’ve got some [new] guys who can shoot the puck. Our main focus is going to be getting the puck on net, not trying to make fancy plays,” said Reimann. “Our goaltenders were awesome.”
Kariya said, “Yeats and Morrison may be the best one-two punch in the nation.”
He added that he hoped the new players learned from the Blue-White game.
“That wasn’t college [game] speed. We were too sloppy,” said Kariya. “We didn’t lose many players but we lost some key people and we need the freshman to learn quickly and help us.”
The newcomers didn’t look out of place at all.
Two players from Maine made their debuts as Bangor’s Derek Damon, a winger, and Scarborough defenseman Landon Bathe played for the Blue team.
“I grew up watching all the Blue-White games. It was pretty neat playing in one,” said Damon who spent two years at Bangor’s John Bapst High School, two more at Lewiston’s St. Dominic’s High and another two with the Exeter (N.H.) Snow Devils.
“I just came out and tried to play my game. I had two great linemates [Chris Heisten and Ben Murphy]. I tried to get them the puck,” said the 20-year-old Damon. “I need a little more conditioning and to improve defensively.”
Bathe, son of former NHL and Maine Mariner defenseman Frank Bathe, said he felt better as the game progressed.
“The second period was a lot easier than the first period,” said Bathe. “It took a while to get used to the pace.”
White 3, Blue 1
Blue 1 0 ? 1
White 1 2 ? 3
First period ? 1. Blue, Heisten (Barnes, Murphy), 4:26; 2. White, Schutte (Ronan), 9:38. Penalties: White, Metcalf, interference, 17:22.
Second period ? 3. White, Kariya (Jankus), 4:29; 4. White, Nault (Kariya), 7:03.
Shots on goal: Blue 17-10?27; White 19-18?37
Goaltenders: Blue, Mike Morrison (31 shots, 29 saves); White, Matt Yeats (19-18); Blue and White, Frank Doyle (14-13)
Power-play opportunities: Blue 0-4; White 0-4
High-percentage scoring chances: Blue 12-12?24; White 15-13?28
Attendance: 1,700 (est.)
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