Maine pulls away from Iona in third

loading...

ORONO – You could call it a backhanded compliment.

Following Friday night’s struggle with MAAC team Iona College of New Rochelle, N.Y., not decided until Gray Shaneberger gave the Bears a 3-1 lead with 3:49 remaining, Maine senior center Marty Kariya said, “Thank God we don’t play any more MAAC teams. That is awful hockey.”

The Black Bears’ 4-1 win was anything but easy despite their 47-14 shot advantage.

After some early jitters, the Gaels did an exceptional job clogging up the middle of the ice and getting at least four players below the faceoff dots in the defensive zone to protect freshman goalie Ian Vigier, who was superb when shots actually made it through to him.

Maine attempted 71 shots to Iona’s 28 attempts.

“But we got the win and that’s all that matters,” said Kariya, whose 12-1-2 Bears extended their unbeaten streak to 13 games (11-0-2) and their Alfond Arena unbeaten streak to 24 games (20-0-4).

Maine will play 9-3-1 Harvard at Portland’s Cumberland County Civic Center on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Iona, now 3-12-1, stunned the Bears when Mark Hallam opened the scoring 11:18 into the game. Robert Liscak answered 4:48 later.

Colin Shields gave Maine the lead for good with 4:17 left in the second period.

But it wasn’t until senior right winger Shaneberger found the net on a three-on-two that the Bears and the Alfond faithful could breathe a sign of relief.

Todd Jackson gave the puck to Liscak in the neutral zone and, as they crossed the blue line, Liscak fed it to Shaneberger on the right wing.

“I knew Robert and Todd were going to the net so I decided to try to go five-hole,” said Shaneberger, whose goal was his second of the season and second in the last three games. “I got a step on their defenseman and that gave me time to bear down on my shot,”

His snap shot from the faceoff dot to Vigier’s left slipped under the goalie’s stick and through his pads.

“I came across and was in position but I didn’t get my stick down,” said Vigier.

Tommy Reimann ended an eight-game goal-scoring drought by depositing the puck into an empty net with 39 seconds left after Vigier was pulled in favor of the extra attacker. It was a shorthanded goal.

Frank Doyle was again sharp in the Maine net. Even thought he didn’t face many shots, he made saves at critical moments and received a couple of good bounces as the Gaels hit the post and crossbar.

“I did my best to stay focused,” said Doyle. “It’s tough in games like this but the crowd made it a little bit easier.”

Kariya said Doyle “did a great job. That’s a tough game for him to play.”

Doyle praised the Gaels and their dedication to defense, saying, “They did a great job taking away the slot area.”

“I was very proud of the effort our guys gave tonight,” said Iona coach Frank Bretti.

Hallam opened the scoring by tucking his own rebound inside the post to Doyle’s right after Doyle had stopped Trevor McCall’s point shot and then extended his arm and stick to stop Hallam’s first rebound.

Maine tied it when Francis Nault’s from the midpoint hit Liscak’s thigh pad and deflected over Vigier’s glove.

Shields made it 2-1 after skillfully picking Travis Wight’s pass out of the air and kicking it onto his stick.

“It was a three-on-two and Tommy [Reimann] was driving to the net so their defenseman [Trevor Aubie] backed off me. So I just took a shot and it went off their defenseman’s stick,” said Shield who was in the middle of the circle to Vigier’s right.

“When it hit our defenseman’s stick, the puck knuckled on me and went over my blocker [short side],” said Vigier.

Doyle made three good saves early in the third period as he got his pad on Neil Clark’s quick wrister, which hit a stick and changed directions and then made back-to-back power play stops off Brent Williams and Chris Martini.

Vigier robbed Cameron Lyall a few minutes later when the junior left wing beat a defenseman only to have Vigier glove his 15-foot snap shot.

BLACK BEARS 4, GAELS 1

Iona (3-12-1) 1 0 0 ? 0

Maine (12-1-2) 1 1 2 ? 4

First period ? 1. Iona, Hallum 4 (Bararuk, McCall), 11:18; 2. Maine, Liscak 7 (Nault, Jackson), 16:06. Penalties: none.

Second period ? 3. Maine, Shields 11 (Wight, Reimann), 15:43. Penalties: Iona, Carroll, boarding, 18:42.

Third period ? 4. Maine, Shaneberger 2 (Liscak, Jackson) 16:11; 5. Maine, Reiman 3 (Kariya, Ryan) 19:21; Penalties: Maine, Heisten, tripping, 3:45; Iona, too many men on ice, 4:46; Maine, Lyall, roughing, 11:52; Maine, Lawson, high sticking, 18:22

Shots on goal: Iona 4-4-6?14; Maine 15-17-15?47

Goaltenders: Iona, Vigier (47 shots-43 saves); Maine, Doyle (14-13)

Power-play opportunities: Iona 0 of 3; Maine 0 of 2

High-percentage scoring chances: Iona 3-5-4?12; Maine 6-9-11?26

Attendance: 5,094