ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The University of Maine men’s hockey team has struggled to score goals recently, and now the Black Bears get to face a goalie who is a Hobey Baker finalist in the first round of the NCAA Tournament tonight.

But Maine will have its starting goalie back, and sophomore Ben Bishop is looking forward to facing St. Cloud State netminder Bobby Goepfert in a 6 p.m. East Regional match-up at the Blue Cross Arena.

Maine, the third seed, is 21-14-2, while second-seeded St. Cloud State, which finished second in the WCHA regular-season standings, is 22-10-7.

ECAC tourney champ Clarkson, 25-8-5 and the regional’s top seed, will face No. 4 UMass, 20-12-5, in Friday’s 2:30 opener.

“It’s fun to go against a goaltender like that when you get a chance. The fact he’s a Hobey Baker candidate makes it even better. It should be a good match-up,” said Bishop, who missed the last four games with a second groin pull. He injured the same groin in a different spot earlier this season.

It will be a Mutt and Jeff match-up because Bishop is 6-foot-7 while Providence College transfer Goepfert is 5-foot-9.

“You can put down 5-10,” joked Goepfert who said he is simply going to concentrate on his own performance.

“It’s not like I’m going to jump up and down, waving my arms to distract him,” added Goepfert, who downplayed his Hobey Baker status. “It’s nice but I’m not sure I deserve [being a finalist]. It’s not just me. I’m not a one-man show. It’s a team honor.”

Maine scored just eight goals in its last four losses, all to UMass, and only three were even-strength goals. The others came on the power play.

Bishop enters the game having allowed one goal or less in six of his last nine games. He has limited teams to one goal or less 16 times on the season.

“There isn’t any pressure on us. Nobody has picked us to win again [like last year]. We’ve got a second life so we’re just going to go out, have some fun and play hockey,” said Bishop.

Bishop has been at his best when he has limited his movement around the crease and used his tall frame and positioning to stop the puck.

He has gotten into trouble when he has tried to be more acrobatic.

“I won’t see much extra movement. The groin injury has helped [curtail] that a little bit,” said Bishop.

Maine senior right wing Keith Johnson remembers Goepfert from his Providence days and knows the Black Bears will have their hands full.

“I remember his freshman year and how good he was at Providence and he’s had an even better year this year. We have to get in front of him. He’s not the biggest kid in the world but he’s very athletic. We’ve got to get our shots through, especially on the power play,” said Johnson.

Maine senior center and captain Michel Leveille said Maine has faced top-quality goalies all year and must win the battle in the area between the two face-off circles in front of the St. Cloud net.

“We’ve got to get tons of people in front of him so he can’t see the puck,” said Leveille.

Bishop said the Huskies remind him of North Dakota or Boston College.

“They have a strong top line (Andreas Nodl-Nate Dey-Andrew Gordon) and they’re tenacious around the net. It’s like the [Brian] Boyle, [Nathan] Gerbe line at BC. If you can shut down that line, you can be successful,” said Bishop.

St. Cloud right winger Gordon expects a close game.

“You’ve got two great goaltenders and two gritty teams. Hockey East teams are more systematic. They’re more defensive. The WCHA is more run-and-gun,” Gordon said.

“It’ll be a great battle,” predicted Goepfert.

The Maine lineup will be altered due to an appendectomy performed Tuesday night on Keenan Hopson at Eastern Maine Medical Center in Bangor. Hopson had been the second-line center all season but was moved back to defense in the Hockey East quarterfinals and would have played on the blue line against St. Cloud State.

Bryan Plaszcz will replace Hopson and freshman David deKastrozza will play center since Hopson’s absence also leaves a void in the middle.

Plaszcz is looking forward to the challenge.

“This will be my first NCAA Tournament and I’m excited and ready to go,” said Plaszcz, who didn’t play during Maine’s run to the Frozen Four last year. “I’m just going to try to keep it simple and make smart plays. I’m not going to try to do too much and beat anyone [carrying the puck] or anything.”

Maine has the nation’s top power play percentage (25.3 percent), and is 11-for-39 with the man advantage in its last seven games. St. Cloud State has addressed that fact in practice.

“We’re going to have to be disciplined and not take a lot of penalties,” said St. Cloud senior defenseman and captain Casey Borer.