ORONO – Nobody has appeared in more Hockey East Tournament championship games over the past 14 years than the University of Maine Black Bears, who have done so 10 times.

Maine’s aspirations to qualify for the 12-team NCAA Tournament for the 11th time in 15 years could very well boil down to its ability to reach the league’s tournament final for the 11th time in 15 years. The Bears may be forced to win the league crown to earn the automatic berth to the NCAAs.

But late-season heroics are nothing new for a program that boasts a record of 61-20-3 from February through April over the last seven seasons including this one.

Maine is 5-1-1 this month and will host upstart Providence College for a pair this weekend to close out the regular season.

The Bears’ problems this season have been well documented: They can’t score goals, the power play is powerless most of the time, and, occasionally, the goalies have been unable to make the game-deciding saves.

The result is a 15-10-7 overall record which, simply put, leaves virtually no margin for error the rest of the way.

Maine has scored two goals or fewer 17 times in these 32 games.

“We’re a good team,” stated 17-year Bear coach Shawn Walsh, who has been battling kidney cancer since June. “We were decimated by injuries early.”

“This year has shown us that the key question is can you get to the FleetCenter [for the league semifinals and finals]? Anybody can beat anybody else there. Boston College has owned us this season, but I would have no problem facing them in a one-game shot,” added Walsh.

BC swept the season series from Maine, outscoring the Bears 18-5 in the three games.

Maine has a 10-4-5 mark against everybody else in the conference.

The Bears’ 10-7-5 league record puts them in a tie for third with New Hampshire. They could finish anywhere from second to fifth depending on the outcome of the Providence series.

“We’re improving. We’re getting better every weekend,” said senior defenseman and co-captain A.J. Begg. “The goals will come. We can’t start forcing the offense because that will make things worse. Our focus has been team defense all year and it must continue to be. The rest will take care of itself.

“Goal scoring has to come naturally. It’s been getting better lately. Dan Kerluke came on at Amherst and Michael Schutte has been scoring for us. It’s just a matter of time before more of the goal scorers start scoring.”

Kerluke had four goals including an overtime game-winner in a sweep of UMass on Feb. 9-10 and Schutte has responded to his move from defense to left wing with six goals and two assists over the last five games. One of his goals was the overtime game-winner in Maine’s 5-4 triumph at Merrimack last Friday.

Schutte has become Maine’s first and only 10-goal scorer.

There are other positive signs up front.

Sophomore center Robert Liscak, who has had goal-scoring droughts of 10 and eight games, has three goals and two assists in his last six games.

Sophomore center Marty Kariya went 10 games without a goal before notching two in his last four games.

Freshman right wing Todd Jackson snapped a 23-game goal drought with Maine’s only goal in a 1-1 tie at Merrimack Saturday.

The establishment of a quality checking line of Liscak between Jackson and Kevin Clauson has been a positive development and could be extremely beneficial in the postseason.

The Bears could use more production from sophomore center Tommy Reimann, whose goal-less streak has reached 25 games; senior right wing Matthias Trattnig (one goal in his last 13 games); and linemates Lucas Lawson, a sophomore left wing, and junior RW Niko Dimitrakos. Lawson and Dimitrakos have lit the goal lamp just once each over the last nine games.

Junior right wing Donny Richardson is looking for his first goal after nine games in a Maine uniform. After a nonproductive start to his career here, Richardson has played much better recently on a line with Reimann and Kerluke.

The forwards have to play better off the puck and maneuver their way into shooting areas. Then, they’ve got to release their shots as quickly as possible and attack the net looking for rebounds. They tend to skate too close to the net, so the rebounds skip by them.

But the forwards have been receiving some help in recent games.

Sophomore Cliff Loya and junior Eric Turgeon scored their first and second career goals, respectively, in the win at Merrimack.

Maine’s defensemen have chipped in with three goals and 13 assists over the last seven games.

“That’s what we need. It could be real important in the playoffs,” said Trattnig.

The Bears have two exceptional offensive-minded defensemen in junior Peter Metcalf and freshman Francis Nault, who both boast tremendous exceptional poise with the puck, and Doug Janik is one of their better one-timers of the puck.

They have combined for 37 points.

Turgeon has a quick release on his wrist shot from the point, Loya has been playing the best hockey of his career over the past month, and Begg is a solid stay-at-home type who has also been effective as an occasional late trailer.

The defense corps has been one of the team’s genuine strengths.

They will occasionally get beat in a one-on-one or turn the puck over but, for the vast majority of the time, they have been extremely efficient.

Conscientious backchecking by the forwards and the play of the defense corps have limited opponents to 23.9 shots on goal per game. Maine is averaging 34.3 shots on goal.

Junior Matt Yeats has good numbers (13-7-4 record, 2.33 goals-against average, and .896 save percentage), but he had a mini-slump recently and the Bears can ill afford a subpar Yeats. He will need to elevate his play as he did in the playoffs a year ago.

Mike Morrison (2-3-3, 1.96, .924) has had a solid year backing up Yeats and the players have confidence in him.

“We’re happy with either one in net,” said Begg.

The penalty-killing (87.5 percent success rate) has been excellent all season long, but the power play (15.6 percent) has struggled most of the year. It is currently mired in a 6-for-58 (10.3 percent) spell.

Opposing penalty-killing units attack Maine’s points, so Maine’s forwards must do a better job in the three-on-two down low by passing the puck quickly, moving constantly, and getting free in a high-percentage shooting area.

“When we’re in the [offensive] zone, we pass a lot, but don’t get any quality shots. We should just try to shoot from the point and try to get the rebounds like we did on the [Schutte] tying goal last Friday,” said Trattnig.

The Bears have the benefit of one of the premier coaching staffs in the country and the knowledge that one of their trademarks is their penchant for peaking at the end of the season.

If the Bears can scratch out three or four goals per game and Yeats can come up with the critical saves like he did a year ago, this blue-collar bunch could make some noise in the postseason.