ALBANY – The University of Maine’s hockey team had dug themselves a virtually insurmountable hole with the help of a talented and opportunistic Harvard University club.

The Bears had been 2-7 when trailing after two periods and found themselves on the short end of a 4-1 score after 40 minutes in their NCAA Eastern Regional first-round game Friday night.

Harvard was 12-1-2 when leading after two periods.

But the Bears rallied remarkably for four third-period goals to stun the Crimson 5-4 and earn a spot in Saturday’s 6 p.m. regional final against 22-12-8 Wisconsin, which beat Ohio State 1-0 in overtime on senior defenseman Don Boeser’s goal with 7:57 remaining in the first OT.

It was only the third time this season Maine has scored four goals in a period and the Bears tied an NCAA record for overcoming the largest deficit.

Maine extended its winning streak to eight games, the best in the nation, and improved its record to 31-7-3. ECAC tournament champ Harvard finished 18-15-3 after having its seven-winning winning streak snapped.

Maine overcame a pair of three-goal deficits as Harvard jumped out to a 3-0 lead.

Freshman left wing Mike Hamilton triggered the rally 3:55 into the third period and Prestin Ryan’s first goal since Nov. 22, coming on the power play, made it 4-3 2:19 later.

Michel Leveille tied it with 7:13 remaining and sophomore left wing Greg Moore scored the game-winner with 4:10 left.

“Each goal fueled their momentum,” said Harvard senior defenseman and captain Kenny Smith. “They’re a very, very good offensive team. They had a lot of chances in the first period but didn’t finish them. They did in the third period. They’re the number one team in the country for a reason.”

“Hamilton’s goal gave us a big lift,” said Moore. “We all started talking and it gave us energy.”

The line of Hamilton, Jon Jankus and Dustin Penner, which generated 13 shots on goal and used its strength and physicality to cycle the puck impressively in the offensive zone, created Hamilton’s goal.

“Jankus and Penner worked the puck down low and I went to the slot. Jankus gave me a pass and I just tried to shoot it as quickly as I could,” said Hamilton who beat partially screened Harvard goalie Dov Grumet-Morris to the glove side.

Ryan’s goal came off the rebound of a Colin Shields shot that came to him off the back boards. Ryan’s low snap shot from the middle of the high slot was Maine’s first power-play goal after it had failed to convert on its first five chances.

“I’d like to have that one back,” said Grumet-Morris. “I was on the near post and I tried to get over.”

Leveille tied it with a slap shot from the left point that deflected a couple of times before nestling inside the far post.

“[Troy] Barnes gave me a great pass and Greg and Shields went to the net. Their defenseman backed off me. I didn’t have anybody to pass to so I shot it and it went in. One of their guys dove to block it but it hit his stick and kept going to the net where it hit one or two of their skates,” said Leveille who said he and his teammates never thought they were out of the game.

“When Prestin scored, we knew we could come back and win,” said Leveille, who assisted on Moore’s game-winner.

“Greg knocked the puck loose to me and I gave him a pass,” said Leveille.

Moore picked the puck up near the boards to Grumet-Morris’ right.

“I shot it between one of their defenseman’s legs. I wasn’t trying to,” said Moore. “That was the biggest goal I’ve ever scored. I’ve dreamed about scoring a goal like that.”

“I went down in the butterfly but I didn’t pick the shot up until late,” said Grumet-Morris who was beaten high to the far [glove] side.

Frank Doyle, who replaced Jimmy Howard at the outset of the third period, stopped all seven shots he faced and Keith Johnson made a pivotal clear with a loose puck in the crease to preserve the win.

Dylan Reese and Brendan Bernakevitch staked Harvard to a 2-0 lead in the first period as Reese one-timed a Charlie Johnson pass over Howard’s glove shoulder for the first of three Harvard power-play goals and Bernakevitch finished off a terrific shift by bulling his way to the front of the net and flipping the puck off the sprawled Howard’s pads into the net with 17 seconds left.

Dennis Packard made it 3-0 on the power play when he sliced in on Howard and had the puck glance into the net off his body when Howard poke-checked it into him.

Todd Jackson got one back when Derek Damon won a faceoff and tapped it over to him at the far post for an easy finish.

But with two seconds left on a power play, which had included a 5-on-3 that last 1:12, Harvard’s Ryan Maki made it 4-1 when he picked up his own rebound and swept it past Howard while he was falling to the ice.

“I’m very proud of this team,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “I can’t think of any game this year when we were down like that. I thought Harvard was thoroughly prepared but hockey is a crazy game sometimes and when you get momentum going for you like we did, sometimes you just can’t stop it. It’s like a wave and you just ride it when you have it but when it’s against you, you can’t control it.”

Whitehead added that there might have been some divine intervention from late Maine coach Shawn Walsh, who died of complications from kidney cancer on Sept. 24, 2001.

“We continue to think Shawn’s around. We had some help from somebody tonight,” said Whitehead.

Maine outshot Harvard 46-40 and the 86 shots on goal set an NCAA record for a non-overtime game.

Maine attempted 88 shots to Harvard’s 53.

Maine had a 14-7 shots-on-goal margin in the third period.

“We weren’t able to shut them down in the third period,” said Harvard senior defenseman Dave McCulloch who felt they gave Maine too much skating room in the third period after limiting their space in the first two periods.

“We should have kept attacking them,” added McCulloch. “But you’ve got to give them credit.”

“Maine kept coming at us and we got back on our heels,” said Harvard assistant and former Maine assistant Gene Reilly. “We didn’t attack them. I think it was our inexperience. We haven’t won an NCAA game in a while [1994].”

Maine beat Wisconsin 6-2 in the Maverick Stampede tourney final in Omaha on Oct. 11.

But the Badgers, with 14 freshman and sophomores in Friday’s lineup, finished third in the WCHA and swept a two-game series from champ North Dakota last month.

Mike Eaves’ Badgers are led by senior left wing Rene Bourque (15 goals, 20 assists) and linemate left wing Ryan MacMurchy (15 & 12) along with freshmen left wing Robbie Earl (14 & 13). Boeser is the top scoring defenseman with 8 & 14 followed by Tom Gilbert (6 & 14) and freshman Ryan Suter, who was a first round draft pick of Nashville and the seventh overall pick last summer.

Junior goalie Bernd Bruckler is 19-9-8 with a 2.09 goals-against average and a .923 save percentage.

Wisconsin 1, Ohio State 0

Dan Boeser scored on a rebound at 12:03 of overtime to give Wisconsin the win.

Boeser, a senior, snared the rebound of a shot by freshman Robbie Earl and beat Ohio State goalie Dave Caruso, who had stopped the previous 28 shots.

It was the first game in tournament history to end 0-0 in regulation and another heartbreaking loss for the Buckeyes (26-16-0), who beat Michigan last week to earn only their second CCHA tournament title and first since 1972. Ohio State also lost 1-0 in the first round last year to Boston College.

Wisconsin finished third in the WCHA and entered the regional on a down, having been upset in the conference tournament two weeks ago by Alaska-Anchorage. The Badgers were making their first NCAA appearance since the 2001 West Regional, where they lost to Michigan State in the regional final.

The game figured to be a battle of goaltenders. Wisconsin’s Bernd Bruckler led the WCHA with a 2.11 goals-against average and had six shutouts, three in the last seven games of the season. He’s made life a little bit easier for the young Badgers, who dressed nine freshmen for the game. Caruso backstopped the Buckeyes to three wins and the championship of the CCHA playoffs. Both finished with 28 saves.

The Badgers nearly won it late in the third. The puck deflected to Jake Dowell at the right side of the Ohio State net, but Caruso stopped the freshman center’s backhander with 3:31 left.

Wisconsin had plenty of chances, but the Badgers managed only six shots on six power plays during regulation, including a two-man advantage for over a minute. They also withstood an Ohio State power play in the overtime.

Caruso twice preserved the scoreless tie early in the second period. He stood his ground on a wrist shot from the right of the crease by Ryan MacMurchy, then stopped a deflection by Ross Carlson just over a minute later.

Bruckler made a sprawling glove save on a shot by Bryce Anderson just before the end of an Ohio State power play midway through the period, then got lucky again when freshman Kenny Bernard deked past defenseman Andy Wozniewski and hit the goalpost with a backhander with 8:45 left.

BLACK BEARS 5, CRIMSON 4

Harvard (18-15-3) 2 2 0 ? 4

Maine (31-7-3) 0 1 4 ? 5

First Period ? 1, Harv, Reese 1 (Johnson, Du), 17:01 (pp). 2, Harv, Bernakevitch 11, 19:23. Penalties: Harv, Maki (hooking), 7:45; Harv, Reese (holding), 10:19; Maine, Lyall (hooking), 15:42; Maine, Damon (roughing), 19:51.

Second Period ? 3, Harv, Packard 11 (Petit), 1:09 (pp). 4, Maine, Jackson 21 (Damon), 2:56. 5, Harvard, Maki 4, 16:47 (pp); Penalties: Harv, Reese (holding), 4:08; Maine, Damon (tripping), 6:56; Harv, Mandes (holding), 11:57; Maine, Ryan (roughing), 11:57; Maine, Leveille (boarding), 14:01; Maine, Ryan (cross-checking), 14:49; Harv, Welch (interference), 18:54

Third Period ? 6, Maine, Hamilton 6 (Jankus, Mushaluk), 3:55. 7, Maine, Ryan 4 (Shields), 6:14 (pp). 8, Maine, Leveille 6, 12:47. 9, Maine, Moore 15 (Leveille), 15:50. Penalties: Harv, Kolarik (holding), 4:07; Harv, Fried (slashing), 5:32

Shots on goal: Harvard 17-16-7?40. Maine 15-17-14?46.

Power-play Opportunities: Harvard 3 of 5; Maine 1 of 6.

High-percent scoring chances: Maine 11-14-11?36; Harvard 15-7-4?26

Goaltenders: Harvard, Grumet-Morris 16-14-3 (46 shots-41 saves). Maine, Howard (33-29), Doyle 19-4-0 (20:00 third, 7-7)