UMaine registers sweep Bishop may have reinjured groin

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ORONO – It was Seniors Night at the Alfond Arena and the University of Maine’s six seniors provided several of the highlights in the Bears’ 5-1 win over the undermanned but tenacious Merrimack College Warriors.

Five of the seniors registered at least a point and the other, ever-present defenseman Mike Lundin, anchored an efficient defensive performance.

Mike Hamilton and Brent Shepheard celebrated Seniors Night with power-play goals 42 seconds apart early in the second period to break the game open, center and captain Michel Leveille had a pair of assists, and wingers Josh Soares and Keith Johnson had an assist apiece.

Sophomore defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin broke a 1-1 tie with 2:43 left in the first period, 4:55 after junior center Wes Clark had tied the game. Junior defenseman Bret Tyler capped the scoring with 3:09 remaining in the middle period.

The victory may have come at a steep price as sophomore goalie Ben Bishop re-aggravated his groin strain and had to leave the game with 43 seconds left in the second period. He will be re-evaluated today.

Freshman Dave Wilson finished up and stopped all 12 shots he faced including two breakaways. Bishop had saved 13 of 14 before being hurt.

“Our objective was to get four points this weekend and we got the job done. I’m really happy,” said Leveille, whose Bears improved to 21-10-2 overall, 14-10-1 in Hockey East.

Maine won Friday’s game 3-0.

“We wanted to get a big win for the seniors to show them the appreciation we have for them,” said Clark.

Merrimack, the lowest scoring team in Division I with 34 goals in 32 games, fell to 3-25-4 overall, 3-20-2 in league play. The Warriors had their winless streak expanded to 14 games (0-12-2). Maine has a 17-game unbeaten streak (15-0-2) against Merrimack.

Merrimack freshman left wing Pat Kimball had opened the scoring by tapping home a Mike Vaskivuo pass off a perfectly executed two-on-one.

Clark equalized just 1:41 later off a Vince Laise rebound. Laise had intercepted an attempted clear-out in the high slot and fired a quick wrister on net.

“That was a great shot by [Laise]. It came off the pads and I just went to the net for a rebound. I put it under his [Merrimack goalie Patrick Watson] pad, short side,” said Clark.

An unattended Danis-Pepin snapped an 18-game pointless skein with a wrister from just beyond the top of the left circle off a diagonal feed from Billy Ryan.

“I had a wide open alleyway to the net,” said Danis-Pepin. “One guy decided to come out and when he came out, I knew he was screening the goalie. I saw a nice hole so I shot it over the glove.”

A five-minute major for hitting from behind on Matt Jones at the end of the first period gave Maine a three-minute power play – Tyler was assessed a hitting-after-the-whistle penalty for retaliating – and they capitalized twice.

Hamilton positioned himself in the left circle and one-timed a diagonal pass from Keenan Hopson past Watson.

“I called for the puck and Keenan put it right on my tape. It went through [Watson’s] arm, short side,” said Hamilton.

Seconds later, Leveille faked a shot in the right circle and slid the puck to Soares on the extended goal line to Watson’s left. He quickly snapped the puck over to Shepheard just beyond the top of the crease and Shepheard steered it inside the far post.

Tyler capped the scoring with a one-timer from the left circle off a Leveille pass that snuck through Watson’s pads.

“They have a very good power play. They have some very skilled guys up front,” said Merrimack senior defenseman and captain Ryan Sullivan.

Maine went 8-for-22 on the power play in its three wins over Merrimack this season.

Seconds after entering the game, Wilson faced a Matt Byrnes breakaway and made the save on Byrne’s backhander.

“I live for that moment,” said Wilson. “I knew he was going to try to go blocker side by the way he was moving his head back and forth. I followed him to the post and squeezed it between my legs.”

Early in the third period, while sprawled on his stomach on the ice, Wilson got his left skate on a breakaway backhander by Vaskivuo.

Maine outshot Merrimack 29-26.

Maine’s seniors have compiled a 102-43-14 record and they will conclude the regular season with a crucial two-game set at UMass next weekend as Maine, UMass and Vermont vie for the fourth and final home ice playoff slot in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

BLACK BEARS 5, WARRIORS 1

Merrimack (3-25-4) 1 0 0 – 1

Maine (21-10-2) 2 3 0 – 5

First period – 1. Mmk, Kimball 5 (Vaskivuo, Sullivan), 10:31; 2. Maine, Clark 8 (de Kastrozza, Laise), 12:12; 3. Maine, Danis-Pepin 2 (Ryan, Johnson), 17:07. Penalties: Mmk, Pallardy, contact to the head-roughing, 1:37; Mmk, Burkholder, hooking, 6:41; Mmk, Bowen, obstruction-hooking, 17:30; Mmk, Jones, five-minute major – hitting from behind, game misconduct, 20:00; Maine, Tyler, hitting after the whistle, 20:00.

Second period – 4. Maine, Hamilton 8 (Hopson, Bellamy), 3:05 (pp); 5. Maine, Shepheard 6 (Soares, Leveille), 3:47 (pp); 6. Maine, Tyler 5 (Leveille, Ramsey), 16:51. Penalties: Maine, Johnson, hitting after the whistle, 1:41; Mmk, Posteraro, hitting after the whistle, 1:41; Maine, Duffy, interference, 12:58; Maine, Ramsey, slashing, 19:50.

Third period – No scoring. Penalties: Mmk, Bowen, contact to the head-roughing, 3:47; Maine, Purcell, tripping, 9:57; Mmk, Sadlowski, obstruction-hooking, 11:25; Mmk, Byrnes, hitting from behind, 13:21; Maine, Soares, roughing, 16:23; Mmk, Bowen, interference, 16:23; Maine, Plaszcz, interference, 16:34.

Shots on goal: Merrimack 4-11-11-26; Maine 8-11-10-29

Goaltenders: Merrimack, Watson (29 shots-24 saves); Maine, Bishop (14-13), Wilson (19:17 of 2nd, 12-12)

Power-play opportunities: Merrimack 0 of 4, Maine 2 of 9

High-percentage scoring chances: Merrimack 2-5-5-12; Maine 9-8-2-19

Attendance: 5,380