UM’s Lundin out for HE quarterfinal series

ORONO – University of Maine junior defenseman Mike Lundin will miss this weekend’s Hockey East quarterfinal series against UMass Lowell. He continues to recuperate from a freakish injury to the pinky finger on his right hand suffered in Maine’s 2-1 win over Merrimack College on Feb. 25.

Lundin had the tip of his pinky finger sliced off by a slash doled out by a Merrimack player and he had to have it re-attached by a doctor at Merrimack moments later.

He also suffered a fractured bone in the finger.

Doctors are waiting to see if the tip of the pinky will be accepted or revascularized by the rest of the pinky.

“The finger feels pretty good. I never thought I’d be sitting out because of my pinky finger,” said Lundin Thursday. “Everyone who sees it thinks somebody stepped on it [with a skate]. It’s pretty crazy that it can happen from getting slashed.

“The doctors are optimistic, but it’s a wait-and-see kind of thing,” said Lundin. “It still has signs of life in it. I’m hoping it will come back.”

Lundin said he was making a pass at the same time he got slashed “and the guy’s stick got underneath my glove at an angle. It missed all the padding. It just hit the leather.”

He said it “stung” when it happened.

“I felt something dripping. I figured it was just bleeding or my nail fell off or something,” said Lundin.

He said he expected to play this weekend, “but the doctors thought otherwise.”

He has been skating and shooting the puck during practice but hasn’t been allowed to have contact as yet.

Lundin, Maine’s second leading scorer among defensemen with two goals and 12 assists in 32 games, said if Maine reaches the Hockey East semifinals next weekend, he hopes to play.

“I don’t see any reason why I can’t,” said Lundin.

Barker named to AE 3rd team

University of Maine junior forward Bracey Barker of Bar Harbor was named to the All-America East third team at the conference’s annual women’s basketball awards banquet in Hartford, Conn., Thursday.

The 6-foot-1 Barker finished sixth in the conference in scoring (13.9 points per game) and seventh in rebounds (6.9 rpg). She was one of only five players to finished in the top 10 in both categories.

Barker has started all 57 games since the beginning of the 2004-05 campaign for the Black Bears. She and teammate Ashley Underwood shared team-high honors in double-figure scoring games (19) and 20-point games (6).

Barker’s free throw shooting has been pivotal for UM this season. She’s shooting 82 percent (71-for-86) from the foul line, good for fourth in the conference.

Senior guard Erika Messam of Hartford was named Player of the Year, while teammate Erica Beverly took Rookie of the Year honors and coach Jennifer Rizzotti was named Coach of the Year.

Mainers honored

Three Maine basketball standouts were named finalists for the Kodak NCAA Division III All-American team.

The finalists include University of Southern Maine 5-9 junior forward Ashley Marble, 5-11 junior center Eileen Flaherty of Bowdoin College in Brunswick, and 6-1 junior center Meg Coffin of Lewiston’s Bates College.

Marble and Flaherty will lead their respective teams in Division III Sweet 16 games tonight in Gorham.