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ORONO – Sophomore goalie Matt Lundin knew what was at stake when he manned the pipes for the University of Maine in Saturday night’s game against Alabama-Huntsville.
Six-foot-seven freshman Ben Bishop, thanks to his 3-1 record, 1.73 goals-against average, and .929 save percentage, has emerged as the No. 1 goalie and Lundin needed to show he was worthy of playing time.
Lundin responded with 22 saves and his first career shutout and senior right wing and captain Greg Moore broke a scoreless tie with 11:37 remaining to lead Maine to a 4-0 triumph.
Moore added a second goal with 2:24 remaining to make it 3-0 after Billy Ryan had converted a breakaway 56 seconds earlier on the power play. Josh Soares’ power-play goal with 56 seconds remaining capped the scoring as Maine improved to 5-1 with its fourth straight win.
Alabama-Huntsville fell to 0-2.
“I tried to keep [the goaltending situation] out of my head as much as I could, but I couldn’t. I knew I had to perform [well],” said Lundin, who made eight Grade-A (high-percentage) saves among his 22 with most coming when the game was scoreless.
“The team played great in front of me. I couldn’t have asked for anything else,” added Lundin. “[UAH] had some flurries close around the net. I got lucky a few times. They hit one post. But our ‘D’ [defensemen] kept boxing out, I kept seeing the puck, we kept getting the bounces, and it ended up going our way.”
He said the key for him was “making the first save.”
“As soon as I made that first save, I knew I had my confidence right back and I battled through the game,” added Lundin, whose parents, Jeff and Kathy, traveled from Apple Valley, Minn., for the series.
Moore said Lundin “stood on his head.”
“For the position he was in, with the pressure on his shoulders to do well, he did an unbelievable job,” said Moore.
UAH standout senior goalie Scott Munroe said, “He got a shutout. What can you say? He made the saves when he had to. We had some pressure, but he made the saves to keep his team in it when they needed him.”
The score was misleading because the hard-working Chargers played a solid two-way game and Munroe was terrific as he finished with 41 saves, including 18 Grade-A stops.
Entering the third period, Munroe had a .960 save percentage in three career starts against Maine at the Alfond Arena.
Moore finally put one by him off a faceoff draw won back to him by Michel Leveille.
“The puck got lost and I had my back to the goal. I spun around, dragged it around their guy at the blue line to get to open ice and I just tried to get a shot on net,” said Moore. “It stayed on the ice, hit the post [to Munroe’s left], and went in.”
Munroe said, “I never saw it. There was traffic in front.”
UAH senior defenseman and assistant captain Jeff Winchester said, “We played real well until they scored that first goal. That was big for them. It kind of killed us. It all came crumbling down after that.”
Maine made it 2-0 when the puck bounced over the stick of UAH defenseman Shaun Arvai at the Charger blue line and Ryan broke in alone and slid a backhander home.
“Their goalie was unbelievable, but we knew all week he had a pretty big five-hole. I faked a shot and slipped it between his legs,” said Ryan.
Munroe said, “I thought he was going to go across farther with it, but he put it five-hole. It was a nice move.”
Leveille and Moore then hooked up on another faceoff goal.
“I tried to get it on net and it kind of brushed off one of their defenseman’s pants and shirt,” said Moore, whose snap shot knuckled over Munroe’s blocker into the far corner.
Soares, positioned just to the right of Munroe, finished off the scoring with a close-range wrister off a Keenan Hopson feed.
Maine begins Hockey East play at Boston College and UMass next weekend.
Maine lost the services of junior right wing Keith Johnson due to a shoulder injury in the second period.
BLACK BEARS 4, CHARGERS 0
Alabama-Huntsville (0-2) 0 0 0 – 0
Maine (5-1) 0 0 4 – 4
First period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Ramsey, holding, 8:36; UAH, Winchester, hitting from behind, 12:45
Second period – No scoring. Penalties: UAH, Mulherin, hooking, 1:05; Maine, Johnson, hitting from behind, 9:07; UAH, Arvai, hooking, 12:36; Maine, Damon, unsportsmanlike conduct (diving), 12:36; UAH, Sweazy, holding the stick, 13:53; Maine, Hamilton, roughing, 18:30
Third period – 1. Maine, Moore 3 (Leveille), 8:23; 2. Maine, Ryan 1 (unassisted), 16:40 (pp); 3. Maine, Moore 4 (Leveille, Hamilton), 17:36; 4. Maine, Soares 4 (K. Hopson, Ryan), 19:04 (pp). Penalties: UAH, Selinger, charging, 5:42; UAH, bench, too many men on ice (served by Murray), 15:50; UAH, Salekin, cross-checking, roughing, 10-min. misconduct, 17:46; Maine, Hamilton, roughing, 10-min. misconduct, 17:46; UAH, Rozman, contact to head elbowing, 18:28
Shots on goal: UAH 7-11-4-22; Maine 10-17-18-45
Goaltenders: UAH, Munroe (45 shots-41 saves); Maine, Ma. Lundin (22-22)
Power-play opportunities: UAH 0 of 3, Maine 2 of 7
High-percentage scoring chances: UAH 4-5-3-12; Maine 8-16-13-37
Attendance: 5,641 (sellout)
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