Harvard University sophomore left wing Alex Meintel knows a lot about the tradition of University of Maine men’s hockey.

Meintel is from Yarmouth and attended North Yarmouth Academy for two years before leaving to attend the Taft School in Watertown, Conn., for three years.

“Growing up in Maine and playing youth hockey, Maine was the team I always rooted for,” said Meintel, whose Crimson face the Black Bears in Saturday’s 3 p.m. NCAA East Regional Tournament game at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y.

“There was that ’93 championship team with Paul Kariya. They went 42-1-2. It was a great team to follow,” added Meintel. “They’ve had a lot of great teams in the past 20 years or so.

“It’s definitely going to be a fun experience playing against a team you rooted for growing up.”

Meintel has had a productive season for the Crimson after missing the first half of the season with a high ankle sprain.

The 5-foot-9, 177-pounder has scored five goals and also has an assist in 18 games.

“He has been playing great for us over the last five or six games and we expect him to keep playing like that,” said Harvard coach Ted Donato. “He had a tough injury in the first half. We couldn’t figure out how to get it better. They finally inserted a screw into his upper ankle. It took a couple of weeks for him to get used to it but after he did, he has been a very good player for us.”

Meintel said when he injured his ankle during a scrimmage just before the season opener, “it felt awkward.”

“But I didn’t think I’d be out more than a week or two,” he said. “It was tough to miss the first half. But I’m healthy now, and I’m just trying to contribute as much as I can.”

He thinks the game with Maine is going to be an entertaining one.

“It’ll be an end-to-end type of game,” Meintel added. “They like to run and gun and build off their energy. We’re the same way. Both teams play a strong defensive game.

“It’ll be a great game between two evenly matched teams.”

Bishop excited about tourney

Even though he lost, UMaine freshman goalie Ben Bishop was encouraged by his first appearance in a single-elimination tournament game, last Friday’s 4-1 loss to Boston College in the Hockey East semifinals.

And Bishop is looking forward to Saturday’s NCAA Tournament game.

He made 25 saves and allowed two goals with BC’s final two goals being empty-netters.

“I felt really good out there,” said Bishop. “I feel like my game is coming together at the right time right now and I’m going to try to carry that into the [NCAA] Tournament.

He said playing in front of 16,909 fans at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston was “one of the coolest experiences of my life. You couldn’t ask for any more. Playing in front of a crowd like that.”

He said his performance “boosted my confidence, especially when you play [well] in that kind of environment.”

The 6-foot-7 Bishop, the Hockey East All-Rookie Team goalie, has started the last 11 games and enters the tourney with a 19-7-2 record, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage.

Special teams will be key

Brown University coach Roger Grillo, whose team has played both Harvard and Maine, said he expects special teams to decide the Maine-Harvard game.

“Neither team is extremely explosive offensively. They’ll sit back and wait for mistakes so a power-play goal here or there will make a difference,” said Grillo, whose team lost to Harvard 2-0 and 2-1 in overtime and lost to Maine 2-1.

“They’re both good skating teams who do a lot of the little things really well,” said Grillo, a former UMaine defenseman. “It should be a great game. It’s hard to say who has the edge but, in my mind, Harvard is the hottest team right now.”

He said neither team has a weakness or a superstar.

“They’re both real solid from top to bottom and they’ll come at you with four lines,” Grillo said.

Matt Lundin ready if needed

Sophomore goalie Matt Lundin has been the forgotten man since Bishop won the starting job 11 games ago.

But he said he will be ready in case they need him.

“Two years ago, Frank Doyle came into the Harvard game in the third period in Albany [to replace Jimmy Howard]. You’ve got to be ready for everything,” said Lundin, who has a 7-4 record, a 1.72 GAA and a .934 save percentage.

Maine rallied for four third-period goals and Doyle shut out the Crimson as Maine triumphed 5-4.

Lundin said even though he hasn’t started since the 7-4 loss to New Hampshire on Feb. 4, he “keeps trying to get better in case they need me.

“I’ve been working on everything: Skating, playing the puck, being square to the shooters, reading the play and recovery,” he said.