The University of Maine’s hockey team’s blueprint for success under fourth-year head coach Ben Barr has revolved around depth, tenacity, physicality, attention to detail, smothering team defense and work ethic.
They executed that to perfection in Saturday night’s 7-1 victory over UMass Lowell at the sold-out Alfond Arena.
Thirteen different skaters registered at least a goal or an assist with seven scoring a goal. The Black Bears finished their checks, the defense corps had a near-flawless performance and they won most of the puck battles.
And several of their veterans broke out of goal-scoring slumps, which should bode well for the future beginning with Thursday’s Hockey East 7:30 p.m. semifinal against Northeastern at the TD Garden in Boston.
UMaine, with its 22-7-6 record and second-place finish in Hockey East, has already sewn up a second-consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.
UMaine is ranked fourth in both major polls and, more importantly, is third in the Pairwise Rankings that emulate the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s seeding process. In that tournament, 16 teams qualify for the four, four-team regionals in Manchester, New Hampshire; Allentown, Pennsylvania; Toledo, Ohio; and Fargo, North Dakota.
If the tournament began tomorrow, UMaine would be a one seed based on the Pairwise Rankings, with the other one seeds being Boston College (1st in Pairwise), Michigan State (2nd) and Minnesota (4th).
So UMaine and Boston College would be the top seeds in the Manchester and Allentown regionals with the NCAA Tournament selection committee making the final decision on which one goes where.
But there’s still a lot of hockey to be played.
One of the neat aspects of Saturday’s game was that three Black Bears making their final appearance at Alfond Arena scored goals: graduate student center and co-captain Lynden Breen, senior center Harrison Scott and graduate student right wing Ross Mitton.
Breen is in his fifth year at UMaine; Scott is in his second after transferring from Bentley (Massachusetts) and Mitton is in his first after transferring from Colgate (New York).
Breen was playing in his sixth game after missing 16 games due to a broken fibula suffered in the 6-0 win over Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (New York) on Nov. 30, 2024. It was his first point since returning. He had his first career hat trick and an assist in that RPI game before breaking his leg.
Mitton had missed the previous five games due to a knee injury and his goal was his first since the 6-2 victory over RPI the day after Breen got hurt.
Scott’s goal was his team-leading 17th and snapped a five-game pointless streak. The San Jose native had carried the offensive load the first two-thirds of the season along with senior left wing and UMass transfer Taylor Makar. But Scott had just one goal in his last 14 games entering Saturday’s contest.
Senior co-captain and defenseman David Breazeale had two assists in his Alfond Arena finale; Makar had an assist and senior center and alternate captain Nolan Renwick had a stellar game even though he didn’t register a point. He was plus-two in plus-minus.
Players receive a plus-one if they are on the ice when their team scores a shorthanded or even-strength goal and a minus-one if the opponent scores one.
Renwick also won 14 of 22 faceoffs. Scott and Breen were also good in the faceoff circle with Scott winning 11 of 15 and Breen 12 of 18.
“Hopefully these guys, especially the ones who have been here three or four years, enjoyed their last game at the Alfond,” said UMaine head coach Ben Barr. “What they’ve given to this program… they’ve brought this place alive.”
Barr was also very appreciative of the support of the fans and the state and noted that Sen. Susan Collins and UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy came down to the locker room after the game to congratulate them.
“It was really cool to have so many people that support us in the stands and to have the Senator and the President in the locker room afterwards. This program and this state is really special,” said Barr.
The night got underway with a stirring rendition of the national anthem sung by Cumberland native and American Idol finalist Julia Gagnon.
Breen said his final game at the Alfond was “special” on Saturday night.
“There was a lot of work for us to get to this point. Our message was whether it’s playoffs or not, it was our last game here for the group together as a whole,” said Breen. “We weren’t going to let [UMass Lowell] get a sniff all night and to play a team like us that doesn’t give up, it’s a long night for their team and that’s what we plan on building next weekend.”
Breen said having seven different goal scorers was noteworthy.
“It’s unreal. There are guys who have been in so-called slumps, whatever it is, and for them to be able to get on the scoresheet at an important time of the year like this when we really need everyone to step up is special,” said Breen.
Prior to the game, UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin said UMaine is the heaviest team in Hockey East.
In hockey jargon, heavy refers to a team that finishes its checks, forehecks hard, gets pucks deep into the offensive zone, plays north and south and wears opponents down.
Breen called it a great compliment from the opposing coach.
“That’s our game. That’s our standard here. We’re going to be playing teams with a lot of talent up front, on the back end and in net.” Breen said. “But, at this time of the year, it’s about which team is going to work, which team is going to grind.”
UMaine is one of just three teams in Hockey East with only one National Hockey League draft pick with UMass Lowell and Merrimack being the others.
Makar is a seventh round choice of the Colorado Avalanche where his brother, Cale, is one of the best defensemen in the league.
There is an average of 6.5 NHL draft picks per Hockey East team and an average of 9.9 draft picks among the teams who are currently ranked in the top 10 in the Pairwise Rankings.
Minnesota (4h in Pairwise) has 16, Boston University and Denver have 13, Boston College has 12 and Providence has 11.
UMaine sophomore defenseman and Merrimack College transfer Frank Djurasevic, who was named the Hockey East defender of the week after having a goal and an assist against UMass Lowell, said they go into every game with an underdog mentality.
“A lot of people don’t respect us. We’re out to get their respect,” said Djurasevic.
UMaine placed two players on the four Hockey East All-Star teams (first, second, third teams and all-rookie team) in second team goalie Albin Boija, a sophomore, and junior defenseman Brandon Holt (third team).
Since the outset of the 2015-16 season, UMaine is just the second, second-place team with fewer than three players chosen to the four All-Hockey East teams. The 2022-23 Merrimack team also had two.
But the Black Bears have seven players with at least 20 points and 14 with at least 10 points.
