KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Joey Diamond has made a name for himself with his gritty play, especially around the opposing net.
The University of Maine senior right wing’s net-front presence paid dividends again Saturday night.
Diamond tipped in freshman defenseman Ben Hutton’s shot from the point with 10:04 remaining in regulation to give the Black Bears a come-from-behind 4-3 ,men’s hockey victory over Army in the consolation game at the Ice Breaker Tournament.
The Black Bears (1-2) outshot the 0-2 Black Knights 54-24.
Notre Dame beat Nebraska-Omaha 3-2 in the championship game.
Diamond’s goal came just 55 seconds after Army’s Josh Richards had tied it when he beat Maine freshman goalie Matt Morris with a quick shot off a Joe Kozlak faceoff win.
Thane Keller’s first-period goal and Luke Jenkins’ goal early in the second period staked the Black Knights to a 2-0 lead but Maine rallied later in the second period with three goals in a span of 2:27 to take the lead.
Mark Anthoine and Klas Leidermark scored 1:11 apart to tie it and Stu Higgins capped the flurry at the 13:51 mark.
Maine coach Tim Whitehead said he was pleased that his team “never panicked” when they fell behind.
“They kept pushing. They stuck with it. They eventually wore [Army] down and got the win,” said Whitehead.
“We kept our composure,” said Diamond. “It’s always good to face adversity and overcome it. Our work ethic was better today. We had a good team meeting before the game and came out and played with more of an edge.”
Diamond, who was tied for third in the country in goals per game (0.68) a year ago, made his first goal of this season a game-winner.
Higgins passed the puck to Hutton at the point and he took a shot.
“It was a great shot and I was able to get a piece of it,” said Diamond, who was screening the goaltender.
Establishing a net-front presence was one of the focal points for Maine and that’s how all of its goals were scored.
“All of our goals were real hard-nosed goals,” Whitehead said. “They were beautiful ugly goals. The guys drove the net.”
Anthoine’s even-strength goal turned the tide as it snapped a Black Bear scoreless streak that spanned 147 minutes, 44 seconds and gave the Bears offensive momentum. The junior right wing from Lewiston had gone 59 games without an even-strength goal dating back to his freshman season.
He had 12 goals a year ago, 11 on the power play and one shorthanded.
“Finally (an even-strength goal)!” quipped Anthoine, who converted his own rebound.
“I grabbed the puck in the corner and there was no pressure on me so I took it to the net,” he said. “I tried to stuff it but [goalie Rob Tadazak] had the paddle (stick) down. I got lucky. I got my own rebound.”
Anthoine roofed the puck as he was falling to the ice.
Leidermark snapped a 24-game goal-less drought when he flipped home the rebound of a shot by Will Merchant, who tried to stuff the puck past Tadazak.
Higgins also converted a rebound.
“Joey bumped the puck up to Devin Shore and he went wide and flew by [a defenseman]. Devin got off a shot and I followed it up. I had a wide-open net, basically,” said Higgins, who broke his 16-game goal-less famine.
Heller scored 5:41 into the game when he swept home an Andy Starczewski rebound.
Jenkins expanded the lead 2:31 into the second period when he chased down his rebound and banked in shot from behind the extended goal line. The puck glanced in off Morris.
Morris made 10 Grade-A (high-percentage) saves among his 21 in his first varsity start.
Sophomore Tadazak was outstanding, making 24 Grade-A saves among his 50.
Maine hosts St. Lawrence for games Friday and Saturday nights at 7.
Army won 4 games last year and Maine struggled to win this game.
a win is a win….
Yup considering there isn’t likely to be many this year.
season still young, all they can do is get better and work better as a team, and listen to the other coaches that are with them, some of us are trying to figure who lite the fire under these guys in the army game….
13 Freshman playing for Army also
Local in KC, went to the Friday night game. Maine’s coach had his head up his a..
Allowed ND to control fore checking on the defensive end through out the first two periods. It was ugly hockey at it’s best.
If you aren’t as physical a team, you beat that w/ that speed. Never saw that w/ Maine’s squad. They finally started matching up on the boards in the 3rd period, but they were out played the entire game. We left after the Main/ND game, what a snooze fest! Was hoping to see some good hockey, before our local Mavericks started their CHL season. Disappointed in the quality of play on the ice. Yeah, it’s early in the season, but Maine has a reputation for putting good squads on the ice over the years. Didn’t see that Friday night. Maine’s coach didn’t make any adjustments in the first two periods to offset ND getting physical w/ the forechecking. It’s not rocket science!
On a good note, Maine’s goalie did a tremendous job keeping ND scoreless through the 1st two periods! With what I saw of the 3 lines Main put out on the ice, he’ll need to keep up that level of play between the pipes for this team to fare well during the upcoming season.
Although every win is a harsh blow to the Whitehead critics, let’s not ignore the fact that the Black Bears generated 24 Grade-A scoring chances. That’s a big number that indicates a dominant performance. The head coach also deserves credit when a team stays cool after falling behind. Sounds to me like a good performance and a good win.
Generating 24 Grade-A scoring chances, out-shooting opponents 54-24, and winning 4-3 leads to only one conclusion: Maine couldn’t finish goals against a team that won 4 games last year and has 13 freshmen.It also must be noted that Army can’t even recruit Canadian players as only U.S. citizens can attend West Point, and hockey is really not the primary concern of the players attending the Academy. If Maine had a “dominant” and a “good performance” then this game would have been 10-1. Sorry dawg, but your logic fails hard.
Your arguments don’t refute my logic but, instead, my conclusions. So let me back those conclusions with some further perspectives.
Every team faces recruiting restrictions. Harvard can’t recruit students without exceptional academic credentials. Schools like Maine are restricted by their budgets, which are far smaller than many of their competitors. Service academies are certainly challenged in significant ways, but they do have rosters full of smart, committed, strong-willed young men. Air Force, for example, is consistently competitive on a national basis.
Larry Mahoney himself, who has seen way more college hockey games than any of us, noted that Army goalie Rob Tadazak “was outstanding.” By the way, Tadzak didn’t just roll in from some high school in New York. He is a former Most Valuable Player in the North American Hockey League, a 24-team junior league that has turned out 7 Hobey Baker Award winners since 1990. Pretty good pedigree. So let’s not assume that there’s only “one conclusion.”
Oh, and about those 10-1 games. They just don’t happen anymore. Coaching emphasis, goalie equipment, rules changes and other factors have changed the game. There have been 44 Division I games this weekend. Two teams have scored 8 (Providence against Sacred Heart and Michigan Tech against Lake Superior). On the other hand, there are a bunch of 3-1, 2-1 games. It’s been this way for a few years.
The win is a good one, especially considering that the Black Bears had to come from behind. Let’s see where it leads. I’m optimistic about this team and watching it develop over the next few months.
Maine is not restricted by its budget. In order to be a member of HEA, they must offer the same # of scholarships as other DI institutions. They have brought players over from Europe, as have the BB teams, which is expensive, so $$ are certainly NOT the issue for the mens hockey team.
Of course, fewer dollars are coming into the program as wealthy long-time donors are not donating any longer, and the Alfond is not generating the same revenue as it’s never sold out any longer.
Their problems are simple – lack of leadership and accountability from the coaching staff. And “fans” like you who think squeeking out a 4-3 win against Army is “a good one.” When fans settle for mediocrity – that’s what you’re gonna get.
Please be educated and living in reality before you start posting nonsense on this site.
This is the last time I will respond to you directly.
Your insults mean nothing to me. There is no way you can know anything about my knowledge of the game or the program, nor do I question yours.
I will contribute whatever I want, whenever I want.
If you wish to believe that UMaine’s operating budget is in the same stratosphere as Boston College’s, be my guest.
I don’t consider NCAA Tournament appearances (check the BDN archive from last March for details) to be “mediocre.” Nor would I ever write off a team before Halloween (or before New Year’s Day, for that matter).
Amen, brother!
So qualifying for the NCAAs is mediocrity? We need to stop slamming Whitehead..he’s doing his job like the rest of us.
Another apologist happy to be mediocre. “Fans” like you are the reason that Timmy is still here and we now have a mediocre program.
Maine 4
Army 3
Time to give Timmay that lifetime extension. After this weekend’s performance – he certainly deserves it.
Dubuque is 4-0, having outscored their opponents 13-4. Can’t wait till Monty’s back @ UMO!
Army will never be the power house they once were in the 70’s and early 80’s.