BOSTON — The seniors on the University of Maine men’s hockey team have suffered their share of heart-breaking moments against archrival University of New Hampshire during their careers, including a pair of home losses in which the Black Bears squandered two-goal third-period leads.
They surrendered another two-goal third-period lead on an unseasonably warm and beautiful January night on Saturday in front of 38,456 at historic Fenway Park but, this time, the Black Bears triumphed thanks to two of those seniors: co-captain Brian Flynn and assistant captain Spencer Abbott.
Flynn’s goal 1:29 into overtime off assists from linemates Abbott and Joey Diamond gave Maine a thrilling 5-4 victory.
Diamond’s one-timer from the top of the left circle off an Abbott feed deflected into the net off the shaft of Flynn’s stick as Maine notched its fourth straight win and seventh in its last eight games.
The Black Bears, 10-7-2 overall and 7-6-1 in Hockey East, also snapped a four-game losing streak at the hands of the Wildcats, who are now 6-11-2 and 4-8-1, respectively.
UNH has lost five straight and seven of eight.
“I can’t say enough about it,” said Maine senior defenseman and co-captain Will O’Neill. “That’s the fashion we want to win in. We’re just finding ways to win games no matter if it’s at Fenway or where it’s at and that’s the most important part of it all.
“It was a gutsy win. I’m so proud of the guys. Everybody stuck with it. There were highs and lows in the game but we prevailed,” added O’Neill.
UNH’s previous comebacks weren’t a topic of concern.
“We’ve got an older team so we know we have to stick with it,” said O’Neill. “We can’t have any letdowns. We can’t take any shifts off. We talked a lot on the bench about keeping our focus and keeping everything going. We wanted the next goal.”
The team didn’t panic, Flynn said.
“We continued to play with confidence. We’ve been in this situation a number of times this year,” he said. “The guys stuck to the game plan and it eventually paid off. We just threw the puck to the net.
“Obviously, it feels great to get this win,” added Flynn, who is from nearby Lynnfield, Mass. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity so to get this win in front of all the Maine fans who came down to support us as well as a ton of friends and family who were here and to win it in that fashion with my teammates, who also worked so hard tonight, is pretty special.”
Flynn was positioned just outside the crease with UNH defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk behind him when he scored.
“(Abbott) had the puck and threw it to (Diamond). I just crashed the net and, fortunately, it just kinda’ hit my stick and popped over (UNH freshman goalie Casey DeSmith’s) head,” said Flynn, who scored an overtime game-winner to beat Providence 5-4 on Oct. 28.
Flynn has a team-high three game-winning goals this season — he also had one in the 6-3 win over Northeastern — and he has nine in his career.
Maine took a 3-2 lead in the second period with power-play goals 50 seconds apart from Diamond and Mark Anthoine just after UNH received a rare five-on-three shorthanded goal from Kevin Goumas.
DIamond scored again 13 seconds into the third period but Goumas sliced into the lead 2:47 later and John Henrion equalized 1:23 after that.
The teams swapped first-period goals before Goumas capitalized on a Maine turnover to score his shorthanded goal as he broke in alone on Maine goalie Dan Sullivan and wristed one in off the goalie’s blocker.
“I looked back at (Maine coach Tim Whitehead) and there was no chance he was going to take us off the ice after that goal,” said Diamond. “He knew we were going to come back and get a goal.”
Whitehead said, “Getting that five-on-three goal was key because it gave us a chance to get the five-on-four goal. That was a big bounce-back.”
Diamond tied it on the five-on-three as he directed an Abbott slap-pass behind the helpless DeSmith.
Anthoine’s second power-play goal of the game supplied Maine with its first lead as his high wrister from the left circle hit DeSmith and trickled in.
“I’m pretty sure it hit him in the face and dropped down,” said Lewiston’s Anthoine who now has five goals in his last five games and eight in his last 10. He extended his points streak to five games (5 goals, 1 assist).
Diamond made it 4-2 at the start of the third period as he took an Abbott pass, sliced freely across the net front and flipped it between DeSmith’s pads.
Diamond’s goal seemed to energize the Wildcats and force them into a sense of urgency and they were rewarded for their determined surge.
First, Stevie Moses raced into the Maine zone and left a drop pass for Goumas, who took a stride and beat Sullivan with a wrister over his glove.
Henrion equalized when he muscled a rebound past Sullivan as the puck trickled across the goal line inside the far post.
Henrion opened the scoring just 1:05 into the game by wristing home a Grayson Downing rebound. Anthoine equalized by swatting home a Kyle Beattie feed.
Seven of Antoine’s eight goals have come on the power play and the other is a shorthander.
Maine has now scored at least one power-play goal in 11 straight games (22-59, 37.3 percent).
“It was a heckuva’ game and a great atmosphere,” said UNH coach Dick Umile. “Obviously, we’re disappointed. We had an opportunity to win it, especially the way the guys battled back in the third period. But we didn’t get it done.”
Maine outshot UNH 33-24.
Sullivan finished with nine Grade-A (high-percentage) saves among his 20 and DeSmith, making just his second career start, had 14 Grade-As among his 28.
Beattie and O’Neill had two assists each and Diamond had one to go with his two goals.
Downing and Jeff Silengo had two assists each for UNH.
Maine strugles to beat another very bad hockey team who doesn’t have a winning record. Looked like your typical game under whitehead.
Give up a short handed goal CHECK a 5 on 3 shorthaned one!
Sit back on your heals and play with no agression with a 3rd period lead CHECK
Tim telling his players to play calm with no agression or emotion CHECK
Btw maine strugled to beat a very bad team tonight and as we have seen before this style tim makes his team play doesn’t cut it vs good teams or teams with a winning record. Glad they found a way not to pull a 2011 red sox and not have a total game collapse and lose but you and I know what is coming in the future. With Tim as the coach we know there will be no wins coming vs good teams with a winning record and we know when they announce the names for the NCAA tourny maines name won’t appear in the brackets.( 5th year in a row)
Whithead is now 6-15 vs unh in his last 21 games PATHETIC
Please call coach whitehead 207-581-1108 and ask him nicely to step down. If he doesn’t pick up leave him a voice message. This is his office phone number if you don’t believe me call during off hours and hear his voice message. The message needs to be delivered to him that we the fans and family of Maine hockey want him gone. For the good of the programs current team and its future this must happen asap! Also you can call him at his home as his number is listed in the bangor area phone book. It might be a new year but sadly the maine hockey program still has its same under achieving, excuse makeing coach behind the bench. This has to be the last season this is the case because with Tim at the helm this program will never see the NCAA’s let alone be a shadow of its days of being a national contender every year.
MAINE HOCKEY
Shawn and Grant Built it
Tim Whithead Has Ruined it
FIRE TIMMY HIRE JIMMY!
Thousands of Maine fans and alumni showed up at Fenway to cheer the Black Bears on. Thousands more watched on their television sets. They weren’t disappointed, unlike you, obviously.
Enjoy the moment. They’ll be plenty of time to complain down the road.
Lol yea really looked like a packed house last night sure looked to be LOTS of seats availible. I was happy we won but to say I was happy to see this team make the same mistakes last night as they have for the last 4 plus seasons was truly disgusting. This streak is nice but not impressive go look up the rankings of all the teams maine has beaten this year.
One streak that will continue is maine won’t make the NCAA playoffs as long as whithead is coach.
Lots of people at the last home game vs vermont was it half empty?
And if Maine and UNH had played in the first game, how many of their fans would have stayed for the entire event, especially with the delay in the start of the second game? There were still thousands of fans in Fenway, more than any on hand even during the best days at Alfond.
I’ve followed this team since it’s inception, through the glorious and dark days. I would love nothing more than see us return to the heydays we enjoyed. But I will NOT call Whitehead at home or at his office and harass him. I will leave that antic to juveniles like yourself.
You give the real Andy Moog a bad name…Grow up.
nice post. Thank you!
did i hear last night they are now what third in hockey east or something like that
Maine is actually in 6th place in HEA on a percentage-wise basis. They are in 3rd point-wise because they’ve played 3 games more than many other teams, including the team they’re tied with and the two teams 1 and 2 points behind them.
isn’t Umaine now third in Hockey east and it was a great game it doesn’t matter how the game went and also there’s still a few games left i won’t say if Tim whitehead needs to go or not
Sadly if you grew up in the time of Shawn Walsh as coach Tim Whitehead Definately doesnt have that fire like Shawn did. Maine hockey will never be the same with Tim coaching. I totally Agree
But really, who does have the fire and fitness of Shawn Walsh?
Shawn was not without his faults and his detractors. Enough time has passed that most of that has been forgotten. That being said he was a charismatic personality that was a leader that if you liked him gave you plenty of fire. He was very entertaining to watch and very different from Whitehead. And he got the results everyone is longing for right now. That era is over and done. I agree that this season is make or break for Whitehead. Let’s wait for the season to end and see what those results are. Then it will be up to Abbott to do what needs to be done. I went to see the women play on Saturday. How is dumping Blodgett working for that situation? Complex problems require complex solutions. Getting rid of the coach is much too simple.
Yeah, womens basketball still terrible and that just speaks to the mess Blodgett left and absolutety confirms that letting her go was the correct decsision for the university.
That is the short view. The jury is still out on that one. Will take a while to play out whether the program can turn around in the short run or if it ever will. The wolves will be howling for the new coaches head if it doesn’t turn around soon.
And when they get rid of the coach and Maine still doesn’t win………..then what? It WAS a great set of games last night at historic Fenway. Great event to celebrate 100 years of the ballpark with the most character in the country. Enjoy the moment. Plenty of time to whine later.
And when they get rid of Timmay and Maine wins another National Championship then what will the Whitehead supporters say?
Shawn Walsh was a great man and coach. There will NEVER be another Shawn Walsh.
Maine got two lucky goals, including the winner. Otherwise, they made all the same mistakes. Again. DeSmith is a freshman goalie and I think that was the difference in this game.
On the bright side, I believe I saw Timmay talking to the players once or twice. Must have left his chewing gum in the hotel room….
HEY!!! That’s really something!!! ALL THOSE MISTAKES and WIN!!!!
Love it when they beat UNH, good or bad, university of no hardware still sucks. But its another win against a bad team, show me something in the next 3 weeks.
you guys and gals that are bashing whitehead it’s not just him coaching, if all of you think you can do better put your names in and than all of us that say good things all the time can bash you like your doing to timmy, walsh had a better scouting pool of kids back than….
So there are fewer good players out there today then there were when Walsh was coaching? I’d like to see your evidence of that! More likely, kids aren’t coming to Maine – there is plenty of evidence of that. And that, is squarely on Coach Whitehead.
And there are plenty of better coaches out there that would love this job because it is a top-tier program, regardless of the recent 5 years under Timmay. The right coach will draw the top players and bring back the fans. Timmay had his chance and couldn’t get it done.
no they aint more talanted playahs but theirs moor D1 teems so the playahs go to play somewere else. (thought i’d give you something to do…correct the grammar and punctuation ;-)
You reflect very well on the university, indeed. Sarcasm, yawn….
So, where are the errors in my original post (besides the already mentioned ones)?? Just shooting off blanks, huh? Thought so.
you make no sense.
We want a good coach for the team that we pay $23 per ticket to see. We want a good coach so that our 4 hour drive to the Alfond and countless more hour drives and flights to NY, Colorado, North Dakota, Minnesota, etc… can be justified.
I am guessing that you are not one of the fans who travel like we internet nutcases do?
“recruiting pool”… the kids who came to Maine in the past came because Grant Standbrook could work on their skating, their stick handling and their wind… and because they would have a brain to pick in the future, when they were in the NHL. They came to play for Shawn because he could teach them competitiveness and discipline.
There is no recruiting pool nowadays, not because people do not like Pats’ pizza, but because there is no reason for a talented kid to flounder and fail to have a chance at a higher level. Tim is reaping what he has sown.
couldnt even watch after unh tied it at 4 was convinced they would loose.. to my shock they won..but i must say im not at all impressed by will oneill hes supposed to be the captain senior leader he plays like a high school kid..worst group of defensemen ive ever seen at umaine..the shorthanded 3on 5 was UNEXCUSABLE..ill be shocked if theyre winning streak doesnt end here with that upcoming schedule,,,,WHITEHEAD YOU BITE!!!!!
When the basketball was fired / and the softball Coach was hired becouse of their
record I really Think its time to replace the hockey Coach (but he is a man)
lets be fair, The team is not where they should be . Its time to replace him.
what a sourpuss; Is Whitehead out there skating, defending, and shooting the puck? While coaching is VERY important, there’s a lot more that goes into winning games, regardless of the sport. If you were ever any kind of athlete, played at the Div. I level (I did), you would know this. Shame on you and your NEGATIVE attitude…as if you could do better, AND, as if the kids (Yes, Kids!) are out there trying to lose. Get a grip.
It was fun, but they played terribly. The acted like they won a HE title. Win a few game against good teams in the next three weeks and then I will be impressed. Until then, I’ll root for men’s basketball. Big game vs BU on Wednesday at Alfond.
And if you had watched the first game UMass reacted the same way…so what?
UMass is not UMaine.
Didn’t say they were. I was alluding to the end of game celebration.
Exactly
They just need a reality check. Maine needs to play perfectly in the next three weeks or it will be a long homestretch into March.
Fire UNH’s coach – whoever he is.
Yes, this was a fun win, and it was excellent to have the chance to play at Fenway. In reality, though, this UNH team is terrible, Maine played sloppy hockey, and it has zero impact on the fact that Whitehead is a mediocre coach that isn’t cut out to lead this program.
I personally enjoy the fact that we beat UNH, am glad that we are currently in third place in HE and look forward to the real games against actual opponents that are coming up.
With the exception of the shorthanded goal, I think they dominated the second period and were playing at a national top 15 level. They just need to figure out how to play like that for sixty minutes and stay aggressive with a lead! Good job last night boys, really enjoyed it. Good luck in the next two weeks and play hard. Go Blue!
when they LOOK LIKE they belong on the same ice as BC, then tell me that they look like top 15 level.
This game was against a team ranked about 39th in the country (hard to place them exactly, as the pairwise ranking stops way before it gets to UNH).
Let’s not jump up and down about beating the 39th ranked team in the nation and then say that they looked like the 15th best.
I can see your point but I believe there is enough parity in the league this year where if this team can earn some deuces in the next three weeks they will certainly be deserving of a top 15 in the pairwise. Cornell (15th pairwise) finishes 3rd in the classic and then beats and ties CC (9th pairwise) this weekend. Vermont beat ranked Lake Superior 2 weeks ago. UNH was a very fired up and hungry team last night and anything can happen in a setting like that regardless of rankings. I do believe this team is more than capable of a top 15 finish! The next 3 weeks will certainly make them or break them however!
Sully will need to get hot and stay hot. Go Blue!
who else is coaching? Isn’t Tim the boss? If his other coaches aren’t doing there jobs why are they still behind the bench?. Shawn had a better talent pool because Shawn was a better coach.Do some homework and Look at there record against BC, BU and UNH the last 5 years, pathetic comes to mind
i sat front row of the green monsterblast night. everyone in the front row helped unfold and “toss” the American flag over the edge for the national anthem. that was a great moment. the game was exciting and Maine pulled it out in OT was the icing on the cake. awesome experience. cant wait for next time! a dh of Maine vs BU and Merrimack or unh vs BC would be outstanding!
“They surrendered another two-goal third-period lead on an unseasonably
warm and beautiful January night on Saturday in front of 38,456 at
historic Fenway Park”
FALSE REPORTING. No where near 38,456 people watching that game. Maybe thats how many tickets were sold, but there is zero chance there were 38,456 watching the game.
That was the number reported by NESN last night during the game.
I was there. Fenway holds 37,000 and change. There were not 38,456 people at Fenway watching the game.
If you have an issue with the reported attendance take it up with NESN and Hockey East. The figures in the paper were the same attendance figures reported by NESN last night.
Why include something in the story that you know is not accurate, no matter if NESN said it or not? Fenway Park most likely announced the amount of tickets SOLD, not the amount of butts in seats. Why is it NESN’s job to tell Larry what to write when he has two eyes of his own and can easily tell there are not 38,000 people sitting there watching the game at Fenway Park. Its not that big of a deal, but if the only information someone interested in the outcome had of the event was to read this article on the web (say a fan out on the West coast who does not have NESN), the information leads that person to believe that Fenway Park was shoulder to shoulder during the Maine vs. UNH game. Thats misleading.
Great win for UMaine over UNH (which is long overdue) and always especially sweet in a big venue like Fenway. The real season is about to start and the next few weeks will tell the story. Good luck, play hard and stay out of the penalty box. Speaking of which, Joey D. has become a model citizen and it has made a world of difference in many ways for the Team, attaboy Joey!
Couldnt agree more. Perhaps it was the coaching move of Whitehead to scratch Diamond earlier in the year after a game filled with penalties to get the message across.
What was up with the insane amount of bias for UNH from the commentators? It’s like they weren’t even making an attempt to hide which team they were supporting.
they are UNH alums and apparently can’t be professional and hide their bias while working.
Yeah that’s kinda what I was suspecting too (I knew they were UNH alums) but jeez…commentators usually try to maintain some form of neutrality when on a game of their former team.
Lots of fighting after a big win haha…I will say Whitehead is still not the man for the job and there was plenty of sloppy play after this….HOWEVER this I think is the one time to just forget all about it and enjoy a win. I was there and honestly as long as they won thats all that mattered to me for this one game. Sloppy at times? Certainly. But given the special nature of this once in a liftetime game I think we should all just enjoy the victory, it might be our last one for a while.
where that crazy mikey_hart he not herr when maine wins.., gues he only come on here to dump on true maine fans when they lose.,., mikey_hart not care enought to support team only rip on those who support team haha he funny dude
I’m here Texas. I was able to congratulate the team on a more personal level. As, I was @ the game. I read your post and made the following corrections. you’re welcome!
where is that crazy mikey_hart he’s not here when Maine wins.., I guess he only
comes on here to dump on true Maine fans when they lose.,., mikey_hart
does not care enough to support team only rip on those who support team
haha he’s funny dude
I notice that the people who are most likely to rip on the coaching ARE the ones at the games, home AND away, AND at the banquets, AND congratulating the players PERSONALLY after the games.
interesting.
not sure of your point…but I only Rip on the Boo Birds and/or people that shove a ‘fire the coach’ petition in my face. I am a season ticket holder and try to make every away game I can. If not, I will watch them online or listen on the radio. I have done this for years (well..maybe not watching them online) and will continue. No matter who the players are or who the coach is. There are still a lot of Maine Hockey fans out there like me….I know a lot of them. If Steve chooses to make a coaching change at the end of the season, I will support his decision and look forward to the 2012/13 season. If no change is made, I will still look forward to the 2012/13 season. Been a Maine fan since before they built the Alfond, when they were skating on the outdoor rinks along side the Stillwater. I played in the Alfond growing up/High School hockey. I plan on being a Maine fan for at least another 30-40 yrs.
Congrats Blue on winning down at Fenway, UNH may be down a bit this year, but to win against them as our rival is very important for down the road and for getting others to come to UM. This team no matter what, is on a roll right now, and thats the important part going into a six game stretch of the top 3 in the league…..so lets go UM this upcoming weekend! : )
Maine fans are funny… whine even when they win.
not all of them. Just the Boobirds on here… but yes it’s pitiful
Someone tell Mahoney, that nobody cares about Grade A saves. did we win? How many saves? that is all that matters. I have never seen a “Grade A” save category on any hockey website. Dumb. Stop writing it.
I actually like it, it tells a better story. Just because you make 50 saves doesn’t mean you played well if only 5 were Grade A. It may not be anywhere else but simple putting the number of saves won’t tell the whole story about the goalie performance..
If you make 50 saves, you played well.
You need to grow up and act like an adult. What are you doing posting the coach’s telephone number? Inexcusable.
You’re the Queen of the BOO BIRDS!Get a life and make the rest of the Black Bear fans life a little better. That game at Fenway was an historic game and the team found a way to win. Get over it and stop denigrating the players. They are amatuers and do what they do for the love of the game. Trash any of the coaches because they get paid but do not include the players in your useless drivel.