ORONO – St. Lawrence University senior Mike McKenna was chosen U.S. College Online’s National Defensive Player of the Week last week for stopping 75 of 80 shots in a win at Michigan State and a loss at Michigan.

He showed why on Friday night.

McKenna made 34 saves to outduel Maine’s Jimmy Howard (25 saves) as the Saints upended the Black Bears 1-0 at Alfond Arena.

St. Lawrence improved to 2-2-1 while Maine fell to 3-3. The two teams will play again Saturday night.

The Saints snapped a seven-game losing streak at the hands of the Bears.

St. Lawrence junior right wing John Zeiler’s early first-period goal was all McKenna needed as his mates did an impressive job in front of him, blocking 15 shots and clearing the front of the net effectively.

“The guys in front of me really put their hearts on the ice and played unbelievable in keeping everything to the outside,” said the 6-foot-2, 200-pound McKenna. “Guys were laying down and blocking shots. There’s so much heart on this team right now.”

Howard was the only reason Maine was trailing just 1-0 after two periods as the Saints dominated play, particularly in even-strength situations.

The swift-skating Saint forwards caused all kinds of problems for Maine’s not-so-mobile defense corps, beating them to the puck and creating several high-percentage scoring chances.

“It became pretty apparent that we outplayed them five-on-five tonight,” said McKenna. “We took a lot of penalties but then again our PK (penalty-killers) had to play pretty darned well to get a shutout against this team.”

Maine went 0-for-9 on the power play and is now just 2 for its last 23. Coach Joe Marsh’s Saints went 0-for-4 with the man advantage.

Zeiler scored just 2:29 into the game after Maine freshman right wing Rob Bellamy’s attempted clearout landed on the stick of Saints defenseman Jim Hakewill at the left point.

Hakewill took a quick snap shot through a screen that hit someone in front and landed on Zeiler’s stick.

“I saw the puck go back to the point to Hakewill and I just went to the net anticipating a rebound,” said Zeiler. “The puck popped right out and I roofed it. The puck was on its side so I was happy I got a good shot off.”

Howard said he was screened and didn’t know where the puck was.

“I got a quick look at it and tried to get across,” said Howard.

The Saints had several glittering chances to extend the lead but Howard robbed them.

Soon after the goal, Stace Page found T.J. Trevelyan all alone skating down the middle of the slot but Howard closed his pads to smother Trevelyan’s re-direction.

Jon Jankus hit the short side post for Maine off a point-to-point pass from Bret Tyler on the power play and McKenna made an alert glove save off Greg Moore’s 20-foot wrister.

Those were Maine’s best two chances of the period.

McKenna made a good short- side save off Brent Shepheard early in the second period and then made a great pad save on Jankus’ one-timer off a Ben Murphy pass as he slid over on his knees to smother the shot.

Howard was tested throughout and made a couple of good stops late off Simon Watson and Trevelyan.

The two teams each had 22 shots on goal through the first two periods but Maine had seven power-play chances to just two for the Saints.

Maine had the better of the play in the third period but McKenna was outstanding as he stopped all 12 shots he faced.

He also caught a break as time expired.

Maine was on the power play and pulled Howard in favor of an extra attacker. John Ronan’s desperation pass from the corner found an uncovered Derek Damon at the far post, facing a half-empty net.

“The puck jumped over my stick,” said Damon who felt St. Lawrence earned the win.

“They worked hard. They worked harder than us,” said Damon, Maine’s leading scorer. “We’ve got to find our identity within the team. We’ve got to come out with a different attitude. We’re not coming out with the right frame of mind to play 60 minutes. We can’t expect our goalie to keep us in the game every time.”

SAINTS 1, BLACK BEARS 0

St. Lawrence (2-2-1) 1 0 0 – 1

Maine (3-3-0) 0 0 0 – 0

First period – 11. SLU, Zeiler 1 (MacDonald, Hakewill), 2:29. Penalties: SLU, Madill, hooking, 9:32; SLU, Taylor, hooking, 12:02; SLU, too many men on the ice, 14:11; Maine, Jankus, tripping, 14:28; SLU, MacDonald, holding, 17:54.

Second period – No scoring. Penalties: SLU, Rank, tripping, 4:14; Maine, Shepheard, slashing, 9:14; SLU, Hogg, holding the stick, 10:37; SLU, Watson, obstruction tripping, 18:04.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Wight, obstruction, 1:44; SLU, MacDonald, interference, 8:40; Maine, Damon, obstruction, 13:13; SLU, Bagnall, holding, 18:10

Shots on goal: St. Lawrence 10-12-4-26; Maine 11-11-12-34

Goaltenders: St. Lawrence, McKenna (34 shots-34 saves); Maine, Howard (26-25)

Power-play opportunities: St. Lawrence 0 of 4; Maine 0 of 9

High-percentage scoring chances: St. Lawrence 11-10-7-28; Maine 11-12-10-33

Attendance: 5,641