UMaine capsules

Men’s Hockey

NCAA East Regional

MAINE vs. HARVARD

Time, site: Saturday, 3 p.m., Pepsi Arena, Albany, N.Y.

Records: Maine 26-11-2, Harvard 21-11-2

Series: tied 5-5; Harvard 4-1 on 12/11/04

Key players: Maine – RW Greg Moore (26 goals, 16 assists), LW Josh Soares (14 & 23), C Michel Leveille (14 & 22), LW Billy Ryan (10 & 18), D Bret Tyler (6 & 16), RW John Hopson (7 & 14), G Ben Bishop (19-7-2, 2.20 goals-against average, .907 save percentage); Harvard – C Kevin Du (10 & 23), LW Dan Murphy (18 & 9), C Paul Dufault (8 & 18), RW Ryan Maki (10 & 12), D Dylan Reese (4 & 15), D Tom Walsh (4 & 12), G John Daigneau (19-9-2, 2.39, .915)

Outlook: Maine must be relentless on the backcheck to enable its defensemen to step up at the red line or blue line and force Harvard to dump the puck in. Harvard is quick and balanced up front and is dangerous in transition. Maine can’t afford to give up odd-man rushes like it did in its Hockey East semifinal loss to Boston College. Maine has to be smart in the neutral zone. Maine will be without fourth-leading scorer Derek Damon (14 & 19) for violating the UMaine Student-Athlete Code of Conduct and Harvard is without Jon Pelle (10 & 18) due to an ankle injury. The Bears must stay out of the penalty box as Harvard is 10 for its last 23 on the power play. Harvard is looking for its first NCAA win in three tries against Maine. The Bears, with seven goals in their last seven single-elimination tournament games, must drive the Crimson net front to create second and third chances and limit Daigneau’s vision.

Baseball

MAINE vs. NEW YORK TECH

Time, site: Saturday (2), Sunday, noon; Old Westbury, N.Y.

Records: Maine 9-8, New York Tech 6-6

Series, last meeting: Maine leads 14-7; N.Y. Tech 14-4 on 3/27/05

Top hitters – Maine: 3B Kevin McAvoy (.434, 3 HR, 21 RBI), SS Curt Smith (.425, 2 HR, 19, RBI, 4 SB), DH Matt McGraw (.393, 14 RBI), 1B Joel Barrett (.360, 20 RBI), CF Joe Hough (.328, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 6 SB); N.Y. Tech: DH Joe Esposito (.444, 6 RBI), SS Mike MacMillan (.348, 10 RBI), CF Kraig Binick (.333, 4 RBI, 10 SB), RF Andrew Karkoulas (.282, 9 SB)

Possible Pitching Matchups

Maine Black Bears New York Tech Bears

ERA W-L Ks ERA W-L Ks

LH Nolan Boike 4.12 2-0 6 RH Chris Perez 6.08 1-1 9

RH Troy Martin 8.28 2-3 12 RH Joe Esposito 6.75 0-1 9

RH Josh Zyskowski 3.38 0-0 13 LH Matt McDevitt 1.86 1-1 8

Outlook: UMaine begins its Northeast schedule seeking improvement. The Black Bears have won five of their last seven games while N.Y. Tech is coming off an extra-innings win Thursday over Manhattan. UMaine, which last played March 18 in Florida, has 11 more road games before its April 13 home opener against Stony Brook. McAvoy, a freshman from Brewer who is the reigning America East Rookie of the Week, is riding an 11-game hitting streak. NYT has hit only .270 as a team.