The first half of the season was a forgettable one for University of Maine junior defenseman Cliff Loya.

It was Loya’s errant pass that led to Justin Maiser’s slap shot which produced Bryan Miller’s game-winning rebound goal in overtime that gave Boston University a 3-2 win in Orono on Nov. 9.

A month later, a failed clearing attempt by Loya wound up on Ryan Shannon’s stick and he slipped it to Tony Voce, who scored with 2:48 left in regulation to give Boston College a 3-3 tie in Orono.

But Loya has avoided making those kinds of mistakes in recent weeks and his quietly efficient defensive play has played a role in Maine’s stretch run that earned the Bears their third NCAA Frozen Four berth in four years.

Maine will play New Hampshire in the national semifinal next Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in St. Paul, Minn.

“I thought he had his best weekend of the season against Harvard and Boston University [in the NCAA Eastern Regional]. He played as well as he did very early in the season,” said Maine interim head coach Tim Whitehead.

“I’m just trying to help the team by keeping my turnovers down and making the safe play. I try to keep the number of scoring chances down,” said Loya.

He said the turnovers he committed against BU and BC could be attributed to “my poor decision-making. It was late in both games and I was nervous with the puck. I just wanted to get it off my stick and it ended up on their sticks and resulted in goals. I was just throwing the puck away without looking.

“Now I look around first and find the opening. If I have to chip the puck up the boards [to get it out of the defensive zone], I make sure I chip it through the opening.”

Those types of miscues can ruin a player’s confidence.

But Loya said Whitehead and his teammates prevented that from happening.

“Everybody was real supportive. Nobody blamed me personally for the loss and the tie. They knew I could play better,” said Loya.

But it took a while for Loya to regain the form that made him an effective defenseman in October.

“Surprisingly, I thought I began playing well in the BC-Merrimack weekend,” said Loya, referring to Maine’s last back-to-back losses Feb. 8-9.

The following weekend, junior Michael Schutte was returned to defense from left wing and Loya was paired with team captain Metcalf.

“We have a bunch of great defensemen on this team. And it certainly helps playing with him,” said Loya, a 6-foot-2, 202-pound Pittsburgh native.

Loya is the only Maine defenseman who hasn’t scored a goal yet this season. He has five assists in 41 games.

But he doesn’t dwell on it.

“I’m certainly not an offensive defenseman. When we’re down by a goal with a couple of minutes left, I know I’m not going be on the ice. But I like being out there contributing when we’re trying to protect a lead in the final minute or two,” said Loya, a seventh-round draft choice of the Chicago Blackhawks [2000].

Maine senior right winger Niko Dimitrakos said Loya has been “one of our better defensemen” after his early-season struggles.

“He has gotten back to doing the simple things instead of trying to do too much. You have to know your limitations as a player. Cliff took too much on his shoulders earlier because he was one of the veterans on defense. He got away from his style,” said Dimitrakos.

Liscak won’t miss out this time

One Maine player who is especially excited to get to St. Paul is junior center Robert Liscak.

Liscak was having a productive freshman season when, in the last regular-season game against Providence, he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee that kept him out of the playoffs.

Maine went to the Frozen Four that year and lost to eventual national champion North Dakota 2-0 in the semifinals.

“I went to Providence with the team [for the Frozen Four]. I had already had my surgery. It was painful to watch us lose that game. It’s definitely going to be a lot more exciting for me this year,” said Liscak.

“I can’t wait to get down there and start playing,” said Liscak. “I’m sure it will be a great time.”

Whitehead is Penrose finalist

Whitehead was named one of the 14 finalists for the Spencer Penrose Award given the nation’s top Division I coach.

It is the third time he has been a finalist. He was a finalist twice in his five seasons at UMass-Lowell.

The winner will announced early next month.

The 40-year-old Whitehead took over when 18-year head coach Shawn Walsh died of complications from kidney cancer on Sept. 24. Whitehead has guided the Bears to a 25-10-7 record and their berth in the Frozen Four.

The Bears have gone 16-4-4 over the 2002 portion of their schedule, including a current 9-1-2 stretch.

“I’ve enjoyed coaching this season more than I ever had before,” said Whitehead. “I’ve had great guys to work with on the coaching staff [Grant Standbrook, Campbell Blair and Matt Thomas] and a group of players who have really impressed me with their focus as well as their willingness to stick together and make adjustments we felt we needed to make to win hockey games.”