Bulldogs rain on UMaine’s Florida trip Minnesota-Duluth wins 4-1

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ESTERO, Fla. – The University of Maine men’s hockey team’s recent woes in the Florida College Classic continued Tuesday night.

Goals by Mike Gergen, Justin Williams, and Andrew Carroll in the first 8:13 of the second period erased a 1-0 Maine lead and gave the University of Minnesota-Duluth an impressive 4-1 victory over the Black Bears.

Gergen added an empty-netter with 19 seconds remaining.

UMD’s win extended Maine’s winless streak in the tourney to five (0-4-1) since Maine last won the event in 2002.

Maine junior defenseman Mike Lundin scored just 13 seconds into the game, but that was the only time they could put the puck behind senior goalie Isaac Reichmuth.

It was the eighth time this season the 11-6 Black Bears have scored two goals or less. UMD outshot the Bears 42-23.

The Bears will face Northeastern University’s 1-10-4 Huskies in the 4:05 p.m. consolation game today.

The Bulldogs, 8-10-3, will play 9-3-1 Cornell, a 3-0 winner over Northeastern Tuesday afternoon, in the 7:35 p.m. championship game.

“They outworked us,” said disappointed Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “They had better jump. They won loose pucks. Conditioning was definitely a factor. They played Denver [two weekends ago], so we needed to play smarter than we did. We tried to get too cute with the puck. We also missed the net a lot.”

“We’ve got to keep it simple,” added Whitehead. “When we do, we’re very effective. We can’t try to beat guys one-on-one.”

Maine hadn’t played since beating Northeastern 5-2 on Dec. 10.

Maine senior right wing and captain Greg Moore said, “A couple of bad penalties cost us our momentum in the first period” and the Bulldogs took the game over and outworked them.

“It’s very frustrating,” said Moore. “We know what we can do, but we need to focus on playing 60 full minutes. Not just a good shift here and a good shift there.”

He also gave credit to the Bulldogs, saying, “They’re a very talented team. They moved the puck very well. They made a lot of nice plays through the neutral zone and created some two-on-ones.”

Whitehead and Moore said the one bright spot for the Bears was sophomore goalie Matt Lundin, who finished with 38 saves.

Moore said Lundin was “unbelievable.”

Whitehead called the goalie “our best player” and added that Lundin’s older brother, junior defenseman Mike, was their second-best player.

Matt Lundin said, “I like the way I played, but it’s a loss. I’m not happy with the outcome. I’d rather have a win.”

Gergen beat him with a screened shot from the slot to tie it 1:15 into the middle period and Williams scored the game-winner with a rink-length rush and a slapper 5:47 later.

“That kid had something going on that shift,” said Lundin. “He went end-to-end, wound up, and beat me over the pad and under my blocker.”

Carroll made it 3-1 just 1:11 later off a two-on-none with Jeff McFarland.

Maine had a chance to cut into the lead, but Reichmuth made a save off Vince Laise’s breakaway in the second period.

Maine had several other chances on their four consecutive power plays in the second period, but Reichmuth made nine saves while the Bulldogs were shorthanded.

Moore had a partial breakaway in the third period but missed the net.

Williams had an assist to go with his goal.

BULLDOGS 4, BLACK BEARS 1

Minnesota-Duluth (8-10-3) 0 3 1 – 4

Maine (11-6) 1 0 0 – 1

First period – 1. Maine, Mi. Lundin 1 (Leveille, Wight), :13. Penalties: Maine, Ramsey, tripping, 7:10; Maine, Johnson, tripping, 11:23; Maine, Moore, hooking, 13:29; UMD, McKnight, slashing, 14:53.

Second period – 2. UMD, Gergen 10 (Stapleton, Williams), 1:15; 3. UMD, Williams 7 (unassisted), 7:02; 4. UMD, Carroll 7 (McFarland), 8:13. Penalties: UMD, McFarland, holding, 3:11; UMD, Curry, cross checking, 10:45; UMD, Garrison, high sticking, 12:24; UMD, Swanson, cross checking, 17:31.

Third period – 5. UMD, Gergen 11 (unassisted), 19:41 (en). Penalties: Maine, Ryan, unsportsmanlike conduct, 19:51; UMD, McGregor, 19:51.

Shots on goal: UMD 18-13-11-42; Maine 4-13-6-23

Goaltenders: UMD, Reichmuth (23 shots-22 saves); Maine, Ma. Lundin (41-38)

Power-play opportunities: UMD 0-3, Maine 0-5

Attendance: 6,047