ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Sophomore defenseman Matt Duffy was re-inserted onto one of the University of Maine’s power-play units in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional this weekend to replace Keenan Hopson, who underwent an emergency appendectomy on Tuesday.

Windham’s Duffy scored on a two-man advantage 6:28 into the third period Saturday to restore a two-goal cushion and the Black Bears beat Massachusetts 3-1 in the East Regional final to earn a third NCAA Tournament Frozen Four appearance in four years.

Maine (23-10-2) will face Michigan State, a 2-1 winner over Notre Dame in their Midwest Regional final, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on April 5. The national championship game is April 7.

The Bears’ victory avenged four consecutive losses to Massachusetts prior to the NCAA Tournament.

Maine had lost its last two regular-season games to UMass in Amherst, Mass., and was then swept again by the Minutemen the next weekend in Amherst during the Hockey East quarterfinals.

“That’s what you need when a player goes down, you need interchangeable parts. And for Matt to deliver in such a key situation was great,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead.

“I actually thought about going with the other unit again on the five-on-three, but I figured a right shot one-timer was something we hadn’t showed them. So after the first [five-on-three] didn’t work [in the first period], it was in the back of my mind that if we were lucky enough to get another [five-on-three], I’m going to go with that other unit and Matty made us look good.”

Maine worked the puck around the perimeter and Bret Tyler pushed a soft pass along the ice to Duffy, who was positioned in the circle to the right of UMass goalie Jon Quick. He beat the goalie with a blazing one-timer.

“Coach said keep passing it back and forth and once you get it again, just let it rip. That’s what I did and it went in,” said Duffy. “Bret gave me a nice flat pass. It was just what I needed. I think the shot went off [Quick’s] blocker or under his arm.”

Tyler said, “Matty has a cannon of a shot. He made a great play getting the puck over to me, their defenseman kind of cheated towards me, and I was able to slide it back to Matt. He had an open lane to the net and he let it go. It was an unbelievable shot.”

“That goal was a big momentum shift,” said UMass senior center and captain Matt Anderson. “It became pretty challenging for us after that.”

Maine senior center and captain Michel Leveille said the goal was the turning point, and Bear senior defenseman and assistant captain Mike Lundin admitted Maine was “back on our heels and a little nervous” until Duffy’s goal recaptured the momentum.

Maine had taken a 2-0 lead on second-period goals 4:22 apart by Tyler (four-on-four) and Mike Hamilton (power play), but Anderson’s power-play goal with 1:46 left in the period gave the Minutemen some life entering the third period.

The Black Bears played a thorough defensive game as they limited UMass’ odd-man rushes and second-shot attempts, which had really hurt them in their four losses.

Sophomore goalie Ben Bishop, who missed the four losses with a groin pull, was superb as he made 35 saves, including 18 of the Grade-A (high-percentage) variety.

“I just had to stop the first shots and the defense and forwards did a great job clearing the rebounds,” said Bishop, who will be going home for the Frozen Four as his hometown, Des Peres, Mo., is a St. Louis suburb.

“Having [Bishop] back gave our team a little extra jump. We played an excellent game,” Tyler said.

“We didn’t give them any time with the puck and our defensemen stayed between the [faceoff] dots, so most of their shots came from the outside,” said sophomore right wing Rob Bellamy. “For the majority of the game, they didn’t get a lot of good opportunities.”

Whitehead said, “The two big keys were eliminating their odd-man rushes and their second and third opportunities at the netfront. For the most part, we did that.”

Hamilton said one key was Maine’s transition from offense to defense.

“We tried to keep the third guy [forechecker] high [in the offensive zone] to prevent odd-man rushes. And we took away their time and space,” he said.

“We couldn’t give up chances in the third circle and that’s what we did,” said Leveille, referring to an imaginary circle between the two faceoff circles in the defensive zone. “They had a couple of tough shots in the third circle on the power play, but Ben was terrific. He made a couple of [great] glove saves.”

Maine dominated the first period but couldn’t put the puck behind Quick as he smothered an opportunity by Keith Johnson, who was left unattended in the slot, and scrambled from post-to-post to get his right pad on Teddy Purcell’s one-timer off a five-on-three power play.

Purcell also hit the post early in the game.

Tyler opened the scoring 5:23 into the second period thanks to a lucky bounce.

Josh Soares sent a backhand pass from the corner to Tyler, who beat his man to the far post and was unmolested when he accepted the pass.

“Soares made an unbelievable pass to me,” said Tyler. “There was a defenseman standing there, so I tried to go five-hole, but Quick got across and made an unbelievable save. The puck kind of came back towards me, but their defenseman [Mike Kostka] kicked it in.

“It was kind of a sleazy goal, but I’m happy to have it.”

Kostka said, “It hit my shoulder and went in. It was kind of a strange break, but that’s the way it went. It’s the playoffs and the goals you’ll find are dirty goals. You just kind of throw the puck to the net.”

Kostka’s contention proved accurate as Hamilton’s goal was another freaky one as it came from behind the net.

“I picked the puck up, but their defenseman was on me so fast, so I took a step out. I saw the goalie coming over to the post, so I just threw it there. I didn’t know what would happen, but I got a lucky bounce,” said Hamilton, whose flip hit Quick’s mask and bounced in.

The Bears took three consecutive penalties later in the period and the hard-working and tenacious Minutemen eventually capitalized. The Bears killed off a five-on-three that spanned 1:02, but Anderson converted on the third chance as he took a pass from the right boards by Kevin Jarman, wriggled left to right through the slot, and snapped a wrister over Bishop’s glove.

It was a well-deserved goal as UMass outshot Maine 16-7 in the middle period after being outshot 13-5 in the first period.

UMass outshot Maine 15-9 in the third period, but only four of those shots were Grade-A’s as the Duffy goal and Maine’s commitment to team defense stymied their comeback attempt. The Bears also clogged up the neutral zone with an effective trap.

Anderson said the Bears “really set the tempo for the game” in the first period and put the Minutemen back on their heels.

“When you’re on your heels a bit and the puck’s bouncing off people going to the net, it’s tough to fight for energy. It’s a real credit to their program and what they do. It’s unbelievable how it all unfolds,” said Anderson.

Quick finished with 26 saves as UMass, playing in its first NCAA Tournament, finished 21-13-5.

“Jon made some good saves but, quite honestly, he’d be the first to tell you he wasn’t as sharp as he would have liked to be,” said UMass coach Don Cahoon, whose Minutemen were without injured defenseman Martin Nolet and forward Zech Klann.

Maine is hoping to get Hopson back for the Frozen Four.

Kostka said Maine had some time to “recharge their batteries” after they eliminated the Bears from the Hockey East quarterfinals and their four wins over them obviously forced Maine to “question a few things” and address their weaknesses.

“Obviously, they came out and they knew what they were getting into. They played a great game,” said Kostka.

BLACK BEARS 3, MINUTEMEN 1

UMass (21-13-5) 0 1 0 – 1

Maine (23-14-2) 0 2 1 – 3

First period – No scoring. Penalties: Maine, Hamilton, charging, 2:02; UMass, Leaderer, cross-checking, 11:38; UMass, Ortiz, tripping, 14:49; UMass, Anderson, slashing, 15:36; Maine, Hamilton, slashing, 17:00; Maine, Ramsey, contact to the head-roughing, 19:12.

Second period – 1. Maine, Tyler 6 (Soares, Leveille), 5:23; 2. Maine, Hamilton 9 (Soares, Ryan), 9:45 (pp); 3. UMass, Anderson 10 (Jarman, Fenton), 18:14 (pp). Penalties: UMass, Jarman, delay of game, 4:42; Maine, Purcell, delay of game, 4:42; UMass, Berry, obstruction-holding, 9:32; Maine, Bellamy, contact to the head-elbowing, 11:23; Maine, Hamilton, slashing, 12:21; Maine, Danis-Pepin, slashing, 16:21; UMass, team, too many players on the ice, 19:07.

Third period – 4. Maine, Duffy 5 (Tyler, Ryan), 6:28 (pp). Penalties: UMass, Burto, hooking, 4:57; UMass, Kostka, slashing, 5:42; UMass, Ortiz, contact to the head-elbowing, 8:29; Maine, de Kastrozza, interference, 18:31.

Shots on goal: UMass 5-16-15-36; Maine 13-7-9-29

Goaltenders: UMass, Quick (29 shots-26 saves); Maine, Bishop (36-35)

Power-play opportunities: UMass 1 of 7; Maine 2 of 8

High-percentage scoring chances: UMass 5-15-7-27; Maine 7-4-5-16

Attendance: 3,522