Men's Ice Hockey Travels to #3 Boston College for Weekend Series
The University of Maine men's ice hockey team hits the road this weekend when it travels to third-ranked Boston College. Maine is 5-14-4 on the season and 1-9-4 in Hockey East play. Boston College enters play this weekend with a record of 14-5-2 overall, 11-4-1 in conference play.
A LOOK BACK: Maine fell to Merrimack 3-2 last Saturday night at Alfond Arena. The Warriors jumped out to a 1-0 lead when Kyle Bigos scored a five-on-three goal at 18:36 of the first period. Jordan Heywood extended Merrimack's lead to 2-0 just 39 seconds into the second period. Maine got on the board at 18:57 of the second period when Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.) intercepted a Merrimack pass and skated in on a breakaway, short-handed. It was Diamond's 50th career goal. Merrimack extended its lead to 3-1 when Rhett Bly scored what turned out to be the game-winning goal at 10:52 of the third period. Maine pulled to within one goal at 15:21 when Connor Leen (Chester, N.Y.) scored his team-leading sixth goal of the season. The Black Bears, however, would get no closer.
Merrimack outshot Maine 28-24 in the game. Maine finished 0-for-7 on the power play while, Merrimack was 1-for-8 on the power play.
Maine goalie Martin Ouellette (St.-Hippolyte, Quebec) made 25 saves. He falls to 3-7-4 on the season. Sam Marotta made 22 saves for the Warriors. He improves to 6-4-3.
SCOUTING THE BLACK BEARS: Maine is led by Leen who has six goals and five assists for 11 points. Diamond has five goals and four assists for nine points. Devin Shore (Ajax, Ontario) also has nine points on two goals and seven assists. Kyle Beattie has three goals and five assists for eight points, while Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.) also has eight points on two goals and six assists. Ben Hutton (Prescott, Ontario) has two goals and five assists for seven points. Steven Swavely (Reading, Pa.) is chipping in with a goal and five assists for six points. Ryan Lomberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) has three goals and two assists for five points, while Mark Anthoine (Lewiston, Maine) is adding two goals and three assists for five points as well. Stu Higgins (Troy, Mich.) and Adam Shemansky (Robbinsville, N.J.) each have a goal and three assists for four points. Mark Nemec (Rouses Point, N.Y.) is adding a pair of goals. Jake Rutt (Scarborough, Maine), Will Merchant (Eagan, Minn.) and Bill Norman each have a goal and an assist. Jon Swavely (Reading, Pa.), Nick Pryor (St. Paul, Minn.), Brice O'Connor (Londonderry, N.H.) and Martin Ouellette each have a pair of assists on the season. Klas Leidermark (Gavle, Sweden) and Kyle Williams (Bowdoinham, Maine) each have a goal.
Ouellette is 3-7-4 on the season with a 2.24 goals against average and a .918 save percentage. He has one shutout on the season. Matt Morris is 2-1-0 with a 2.83 goals against average and a .881 save percentage. Dan Sullivan (York, Pa.) is 0-6-0 with a 3.34 goals against average and a .898 save percentage.
DIAMOND NETS 50TH CAREER GOAL: Senior Joey Diamond scored his 50th career goal in Maine's game against Merrimack on Jan. 19. Diamond has 50 goals and 39 assists for 89 career points.
FLORIDA COLLEGE CLASSIC CHAMPIONS: Maine won its second straight Florida College Classic on Dec. 28 and 29. The Black Bears became the first team in the 13 year history of the tournament to win back-to-back titles. Kyle Beattie was named the Shawn Walsh Most Valuable Player, while Devin Shore and Matt Morris were each named to the All-Tournament team.
FIRST CAREER GOAL: Eight different Black Bears have tallied their first career goal this season:
Steven Swavely Oct. 6 vs.
Will Merchant Nov. 2 vs. Boston College
Ben Hutton Nov. 9 at UMass Lowell
Devin Shore Nov. 10 at UMass Lowell
Kyle Williams Nov. 10 at UMass Lowell
Jake Rutt Nov. 16 vs. Massachusetts
Ryan Lomberg Dec. 28 vs. Minnesota Duluth
Bill Norman Jan. 11 at Northeastern
MORRIS NAMED HOCKEY EAST PRO AMBITIONS CO-ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Matt Morris was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Wednesday, Jan. 2. Morris stopped 22 of 23 shots that he faced against #11 Cornell in the 2012 Florida College Classic Championship game.
LEEN MEAN SCORING MACHINE: After scoring just a single goal in his rookie season, sophomore Connor Leen leads Maine in both goals scored with six and in points with 11.
A COMEBACK AGAINST CORNELL: Maine trailed Cornell 3-0 on Dec. 29 in the title game of the 2012 Florida College Classic before scoring five straight goals to take a 5-3 lead. The Black Bears finished the game with a season high six goals.
11 OF 14 GAMES DECIDED BY ONE GOAL OR TIED: Eleven of Maine's last 14 games have either been decided by one goal or a tie. The Black Bears snapped that with a 6-4 victory over #11 Cornell on Dec. 29. Maine's game with Mercyhurst on Jan. 5 was a one goal game, before the Lakers scored a pair of empty net goals. The Black Bears then skated to a 1-1 draw with Northeastern, before falling at Merrimack 6-0. Maine skated to a 1-1 tie with Merrimack on Jan. 18 and then fell to Merrimack 3-2 on Jan. 19.
MARK NEMEC NAMED SENIOR CLASS AWARD CANDIDATE: Mark Nemec has been named one of 20 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award. From these 20 candidates, a national media committee will select 10 finalists for the 2012-2013 Senior CLASS Award in February. Those 10 finalists will be placed on an official ballot for a national vote. The award honors seniors who are committed to staying in school and portraying the values of community, classroom, character and competition.
GAA DROPPING FOR MAINE: In Maine's last 14 games, the Black Bears have given up an average of 2.36 goals per game. Only three times in that span did the Black Bears give up more than three goals. Maine defeated Cornell 6-4, but fell to Mercyhurst 5-2 and Merrimack 6-0. Mercyhurst scored a pair of empty net goals in its 5-2 win.
50 POINTS: Senior Kyle Beattie tallied his 50th career point on Saturday, Dec. 29 in the 2012 Florida College Classic. He becomes the third Black Bear to reach the milestone. He currently has 53 career points. Senior Adam Shemansky tallied his 50th career point on Saturday, Dec. 1 against Vermont. He currently has 51 career points. Joey Diamond has currently scored 89 points in his University of Maine career.
DIAMOND MAINE'S ALL-TIME PENALTY LEADER: Joey Diamond has 399 career penalty minutes, the most in Maine history. He surpassed Prestin Ryan (2001-04) with six penalty minutes in the game against Massachusetts on Nov. 16. In other words, Diamond has spent six hours and 39 minutes in the penalty box.
SENIORS OVERTAKE FRESHMEN IN OFFENSE: Maine's senior class has overtaken the freshman class in total offense. Maine's senior class is tallying 36.2 percent of the team's total offense, while the rookie are chipping in with 32 percent. The sophomore class has tallied 18.1 percent of the offense, while the juniors are chipping in with 11.7 percent.
SIX GOALS: Maine scored a season-high six goals in its win over Cornell in the Florida College Classic Title game. It is the most goals that the Black Bears have scored since defeating Northeastern 7-1 on Feb. 25, 2012.
OUELLETTE A REGULAR AMONG THE THREE STARS AS OF LATE: Martin Ouellette has been a fixture among the three starts of late. He was the top star in Maine's win over UMass Lowell. He finished as the game's second star in the 2-2 draw with UMass and Maine's 1-1 tie with Merrimack. He has been named the game's third star on three different occasions lately.
SIX STRAIGHT GAMES FOR DIAMOND: Senior Joey Diamond has tallied a goal in six straight games against Vermont. He had a goal against the Catamounts in the final game between the two teams during the 2010-2011 season. He scored a goal in each of the three games last season and notched a goal in each game against Vermont the weekend of Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
MAINE'S DEFENSE CHIPPING IN ON OFFENSE: In Maine's 4-3 win over UMass Lowell on Nov. 10, five of the six assists in the game were tallied by defensemen. Mike Cornell dished out a pair of assists, while Nick Pryor, Brice O'Connor and Ben Hutton each had one.
STARTING NINE STRAIGHT: Junior netminder Martin Ouellette had started the past nine games for the Black Bears before rookie Matt Morris got the start on Saturday, Jan. 5 against Mercyhurst. It is the first time in his career that he has got the start in nine straight. He once started three straight games as a freshman.
100 GAMES PLATEAU: Maine has five different players who have seen action in 100 or more career games. Joey Diamond and Mark Nemec lead the way, each having seen action in 122 games. Adam Shemansky has played in 117 games, while Mike Cornell has skated in 113. Kyle Beattie reached the milestone at the Florida College Classic and has played in 106 career games.
RILEY ON DEFENSE: Conor Riley played the first 17 games of the season for Maine at forward. After missing four games with an injury, he returned to the lineup and played as a defenseman last weekend due to a rash of injuries to Maine's defensive corps. He was the EJHL's Defenseman of the Year last season.
CAREER-HIGH 41 SAVES: Maine goalie Dan Sullivan stopped a career high 41 shots on Sunday, Nov. 4 in Maine's 4-0 loss to New Hampshire. His previous career-high of 39 saves was set in the 2012 Hockey East title game and tied on Oct. 27 at Providence.
54 SHOTS ON GOAL: Maine recorded 54 shots on goal in its 4-3 win over Army on Oct. 13 in the 2012 Ice Breaker Tournament. It is the most shots on goal for the Black Bears since registering 61 shots against UMass in the Hockey East title game in 2004. Maine won that game in four overtimes.
GETTING THE START: Martin Ouellette got the start in goal for the Black Bears on Friday, Oct. 26 at Providence. It was his first start since Nov. 11, 2011 against UMass Lowell. Three of Ouellette's four career wins prior to this year had come against Providence. Ouellette also got the start for Maine against top-ranked Boston College on Nov. 2.
STEVEN SWAVELY NAMED HOCKEY EAST PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Steven Swavely was named the Hockey East Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week on Monday, Oct. 8. Swavely scored Maine's lone goal in the season-opener against Quinnipiac, with an assist from his older brother, Jon.
WHAT'S NEW: Maine adds eight newcomers for the 2012-2013 season. Ben Hutton, Conor Riley and Kyle Williams join the Black Bears on defense. Also seeing action this year will be redshirt freshman Bill Norman. Hutton, who was a fifth round draft choice of the Vancouver Canucks, played last season for the Nepean Raiders. Riley, who can play both forward and defense, was the EJHL Defensive Player of the Year in 2011-2012. Williams comes to the Black Bears via the New Hampshire Monarchs, where he helped lead the team to the 2012 EJHL title.
Among the forwards are Ryan Lomberg who led the Muskegon Lumberjacks in scoring last season. Will Merchant, who was captain for Eagan High School last year, recently played in the 2012 All-American Prospects game. Devin Shore, who was selected in the second round of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft, played for the Whitby Fury last year. He scored 58 points in 41 games last year. Steven Swavely was captain a year ago for the New Jersey Hitmen, where he averaged over a point a game.
Goalie Matt Morris played for former Maine captain Jim Montgomery and the Dubuque Fighting Sioux. He finished 19-13-2 with a 2.58 goals against average and a .904 save percentage.
A MEMORABLE GAME FOR THE SWAVELY FAMILY: Rookie Steven Swavely scored his first collegiate goal just 3:41 into his first game on Oct. 6 vs. Quinnipiac. What makes the feat even more memorable was that the goal was scored on an assist from his older brother, Jon. The Swavely brothers played on the same line the first three games of the season, prior to Jon getting hurt.
THREE NEW CAPTAINS FOR THE BLACK BEARS: Maine has three captains for the 2012-2013 season. Mike Cornell, Joey Diamond and Mark Nemec will each wear a C for the Black Bears this season.
