UM’s Law gets goal vs. U.S. Women’s hockey team seeking strong 2nd half

University of Maine junior defenseman Kelly Law will have a story to share with her children and grandchildren some day. She can tell them she scored a goal against the 2006 United States women’s Olympic hockey team.

Law scored the game’s first goal in last Sunday’s exhibition game between Team USA and a group of Hockey East All-Stars at the Whittemore Center on the University of New Hampshire in Durham.

The Hockey East stars actually took a 2-0 lead before Team USA rallied to win 5-2 thanks to three goals in the final 9:27 of play, two by Angela Ruggiero.

Law scored with a screened slapper from the point off a pass from Boston College’s Deb Spillane on the power play.

“It was a different experience. It was real exciting,” said Law. ” They were fast. And they were very physical. I had to make quick decisions with the puck. When you got the puck, you had to move your feet real quickly.

“I thought our team played very well,” said Law, who was also satisfied with her own performance.

Maine coach Guy Perron said Law played “real well and made some great plays” despite the fact she didn’t get to Durham until 10:30 on Saturday evening before the Sunday afternoon game.

Adding to her enjoyment was the fact her parents, Roy and Rosemary, an aunt, an uncle and two cousins made the trip from Ontario to watch her play.

“They were very happy,” said Law who added that there was a nice crowd on hand “and a lot of them cheered for our team.”

It was Law’s third game in three days as the Bears had collected a tie and a win over Quinnipiac (Conn.) the previous two days.

She admitted that fatigue set in during the third period.

The experience also allowed her to make some new friends despite the fact they will be playing against each other beginning next month.

“It was a real nice experience meeting all the other girls. I talk to a couple of them on the Internet now,” said Law who expects to chat with them when they square off.

Bear women eyeing second half

The Maine women’s team won’t return to campus until Jan. 8 and won’t practice until the next day. Maine will entertain New Hampshire, currently ranked second in the nation, on Jan. 13-14.

Maine is 10-4-4 overall, 2-4-2 in Hockey East. The Bears are currently in seventh place in the eight-team league but they are just four points out of the fourth and final playoff spot and they have played three fewer games than fourth-place Boston University.

Perron said he was encouraged by his team’s play in the first half.

“As a coach, you always want to be on top right off the bat. But it’s going to take some time to get where we want to be,” said Perron.

“I’m happy where we’re at. Some of the kids have really stepped up. We’re not where we want to be but we’re better than we used to be. I didn’t think we’d have this many wins right now,” said Perron. “The things we didn’t do well very well last year we have gotten better at. Our special teams are what drove us in the first half and hopefully that will continue.”

Maine’s power play is operating at a 22 percent success rate, a significant improvement over last year’s 10.7 percent efficiency rate. The Bears are killing off penalties at an 89.9 percent success rate after killing them off at an 87.4 percent rate a year ago.

Sophomore defenseman Julie Poulin leads the team in scoring with five goals and 13 assists. Law (4 & 12) and junior center Brigitte Laflamme (7 & 9) are tied for second. Senior center-right wing Cheryl White has 10 & 5 and will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery today, according to Perron. He is hoping she will be ready for the UNH series.

Freshman right wing Vanessa Vani (8 & 6), who has a team-high three game-winning goals, and junior left wing Sonia Corriveau (7 & 7) have had productive starts while flanking Laflamme.

The addition of freshman center-winger Patricia Gagnon, who will become eligible for the second half, should give the Bears a lift according to Perron and Law.

“She will definitely help us in all areas. She’s going to bring a lot of smarts and skill,” said Perron.

Poulin and Law anchor the defense corps along with senior Morgan Janusc (0 & 1), sophomore transfer Kim Meagher (1 & 4) of Hampden; sophomore Jenna Cowan (1 & 4) and freshman Chantal Jaillet (1 & 3).

He has been pleased with his three goaltenders: freshmen Genevieve Turgeon (5-4-2, 2.97 goals-against average, .893 save percentage) and Lundy Day (2-0-1, 1.81, .896) and junior Rachel Gettings (3-0-1, 0.85, .957).