ESTERO, Fla. — It was the unlikeliest of scenarios.
But the University of Maine’s men’s hockey team, the lowest-scoring team in college hockey, scored five unanswered goals against the 10th stingiest team in the nation to erase a three-goal deficit and beat Cornell University 6-4 in the championship game of the Florida College Classic on Saturday.
The Black Bears (4-11-2), who became the first team to win back-to-back Florida College Classic titles, has its first two-game winning streak of the season.
Cornell, ranked 11th in the country, fell to 7-4-2.
Maine has now won six Florida College Classics in the 13-year existence of the tournament, including three of the last four.
The Black Bears, whose previous high for goals in a game this season was four (twice), used a first-period goal from Mike Cornell and second-period goals from tournament Most Valuable Player Kyle Beattie, Mark Anthoine and Devin Shore to take a 4-3 lead.
Connor Leen’s power-play goal with 1:25 left in the third period made it 5-3 before Greg Miller scored 22 seconds later to pull the Big Red within one.
But Ryan Lomberg sewed it up with an empty-net goal with 43 seconds left.
“It was a great win. Everyone contributed,” said Maine coach Tim Whitehead. “We scored goals a lot of different ways — off the rush, in traffic — and that’s something we hadn’t done this season. We had to fight through a lot. I’m really proud of the guys.”
Beattie said even though they were down 3-1 after the first period, “we knew we could come back. We felt confident. We felt we had played well in the first period. That first goal was a big goal. It got us back into it.”
“We never felt we were out of it because we were outplaying them,” said Leen. “We had a little more jump in our step.”
“The guys kept chipping away,” said Whitehead.
John Esposito, Erik Axell and John McCarron staked Cornell to a 3-0 lead and Maine goalie Martin Ouellette was replaced by freshman Matt Morris 10:33 into the game.
Whitehead said Morris made a critical save in the first period when he squeezed his arm against his body on a quick shot from the slot.
Defenseman Cornell started the comeback at the 12:03 mark of the first period with a shot from the point that beat Cornell goalie Andy Iles.
Beattie made it 3-2 at 8:31 of the second period when he directed a Leen pass behind Iles from point-blank range and Anthoine tied it on the power play 1:04 later by deflecting a Cornell shot past Isles.
Shore gave Maine the lead for good with 3:06 left in the period.
Whitehead described it as a “highlight-reel goal.” It came off a three-on-two with linemates Beattie and Leen.
“Connor cut across (the slot) and made a back pass to Kyle, who one-touched it over to me,” said Shore. “I happened to be in the right spot. There’s no way I wasn’t going to bury it after those two unbelievable passes in a row. I was able to put it over (Iles’) blocker into the far side.”
Beattie and Leen each had two assists to go with their goals, giving the line three goals and four assists.
“We played together during the preseason and played pretty well together. That translated into tonight’s game,” said Leen, whose late third-period goal came off a Jake Rutt point shot “that glanced off my thigh and over the goalie’s shoulder.”
After Miller beat Morris to make it 5-4, Steven Swavely cleared the puck out of the Maine zone and Lomberg was able to chase it down and send it into the net vacated by Iles in favor of the extra attacker.
Cornell and Anthoine had one assist apiece to accompany their goals.
Morris finished with 22 saves to post his second win after Ouellette had allowed three goals on six shots.
“He really stepped up,” said Leen. “He was so steady. He gave us a lot of confidence.”
“The team played so well in front of me,” said Morris. “They did a great job keeping the shots to the outside. They made my job a whole lot easier. I was happy with the way I played but I’m happier with the win because that’s all that matters at the end of the day.”
John D’Agostino had three assists for Cornell and McCarron had one to go with his goal.
Iles wound up with 26 saves.
Maine outshot Cornell 32-29.
Maine scored two power-play goals in four chances. It was the first time this season that he Black Bears scored more than one in a game. They also killed off all three Cornell power plays.
“It feels awesome. To come back and score five straight goals is unbelievable,” said Shore, who was chosen for the all-tourney team along with Morris and Beattie.
Beattie called his MVP award “cool.
“A lot of good guys have won it before me and it’s an honor to have my name on a trophy named after Shawn Walsh,” said Beattie, referring to the late Black Bear coach who died of complications from kidney cancer in 2001.
Congratulations on a hard fought victory Maine and for the tournament championship! Great way to start the second half!
Now do some damage in hockey east……!
Whitehead takes the lead over Mr. March in the who is going to keep their job sweepstakes! (although truth be told they both will) ;)
Put your “#1” finger signs away boys…let’s not get to excited here. UM-Duluth has a 7-10-3 record (7th in WCHA), and Cornell is 4th in ECAC. You won a tournament against marginal competition. And don’t give me any of that “Cornell is #11 in the country” crap – it’s December. Reality time…you are still in LAST place in HE with 1 conference win, and 4 points. It will take more than a mediocre holiday tourney title to win back some loyalty and fill seats at the Alfond,
It will take more than a mediocre holiday tourney title to win back some loyalty and fill seats at the Alfond, The people that come only when they are winning are not loyal fans a true black bear fan stands by there team no matter what now thats a loyal fan .
Good for you! Stick right with them as far as that will take you, and I mean that sincerely. Perhaps I expect more out of this program than is reasonable. However, I feel that this performance in Florida is the exception, and not the rule..I personally will not be paying to watch this team until they consistently play “up to par”. Two wins in Florida does not indicate that to me. So, if that means I’m a “fair weather fan”…so be it. But at least I am being honest.
No, you’re being grumpy…
You were obviously absent during the Roger Grillo days!
I’ve been there since the beginning and this year I gave up my season tickets and won’t go back until Whitehead is gone.
Mindlessly clapping is not loyalty. Many fans recognize that loyalty to the program means not accepting its current dismal state. One of the best ways to demand change is to boycott games until a coaching change is made.
I would argue that the best way to help this team is to go to the games, cheer them on, and give recruits a reason to come to Maine. This team has some great young talent. They are developing and should be given a chance. You can continue to be pessimistic and badmouth the program and scare away talent that is here or could come here, but don’t call yourself loyal to the program.
You don’t understand the basic concept of cause and effect, do you? Maine built a national powerhouse program under the leadership of a great coach who built a fan base without rival in college hockey. Talent came to the Maine despite the perks offered by other schools for these reasons. Whitehead has run the program into the ground and less and less talent is coming as a result…plus players are not developing and succeeding as they would under a great coach. Therefore, I’m looking out for the long term interests of the program and the kids by demanding a real change for the better. Its sad that you can’t see how that is looking out for the players.
I can see that you care more about getting a new coach than seeing the team succeed under his leadership. Granted, they have a very long way to go, but that’s not my point. If your son was playing on the team, would you think boycotting the games and discounting signs of improvement was “looking out for the players?” Fans in the stands will help them a lot more than complaining will.
I care about getting a new coach because the team IS NOT succeeding under his leadership. I don’t have to support Whitehead to support the team. Perhaps you will understand this comparison: If you’re son failed a test you wouldn’t flip out…its one test. However if your son was repeatedly failing year after year would you demand to see changes in the approach to their education or would you mindlessly support the status quo? What is really best for your child? You seem to live in a world in which mediocrity is celebrated.
Whitehead has been failing for years and he isn’t just failing fans…he is failing the kids. Thus, true Maine fans will boycott games not because we aren’t approving of the team but because we know the team deserves better. I
I don’t have to support Whitehead to care about the team…I don’t support Whitehead because I do care. These kids deserve better and I would want my son playing for a good coach. If people didn’t care about the kids then they wouldn’t care if the program was good or if the coach was productive.
Are you really intellectually incapable of making the distinction between support of the coach and of the team?
I am quite capable of that. But you are not supporting either.
So the games they lost to mediocre teams earlier this year has no bearing on the games they won against mediocre teams now.
Is there something wrong with offering praise to a group of kids who are starting to figure out what it takes to win in athletics, hard work, teamwork, and mental toughness…..
Like the coach or not, these kids deserve credit for their efforts.
gotta love the reporting from this paper!! did they win 5-2 or 6-4 ive seen both in this article..haha
You didn’t read it.
No, mefishguy43 is correct. Perhaps you should read it again. The caption to the photo clearly states that the final score was 5-2 while the article says the final was 6-4 (this of course is assuming you read it again before the BDN edits the caption to correct the final score).
Sorry. I was more concerned with reading the story. I was interested in finding out how the team did. Didn’t read the photo caption. I guess mefishguy43 was more interested in dissing the paper. FYI: The caption is written by someone other than the person who writes the story – many times the photographer, who often is in a hurry for whatever reason.
not hard to dis this paper..they should proof read an article once in while before posting incorrect info…oh they changed it now..so there woody put that in your pipe and smoke it
Why do you read it?
nice to see the pessimists were wrong once again. Go Black Bears!!!
UMO 4-11-2
Dubuque 22-4-2
Hmmm…
UMO doesn’t exist. Your argument is invalid.
Why is Diamond in street clothes?
He’s sick bro
Maybe there is something to having him on the bench. Good job boys on the win.
With him sitting out that’s less penalty killing the rest of the team will have to do and more offense they can produce. Looks like it worked this weekend
Does this get us an automatic berth in the NCAA tournament?
Congrats to Coach Whitehead and the Black Bears hockey team on a hard fought and well deserved win!
He has developed talent here! Spencer Abbott comes to mind! It’s all about what have you done for me lately! He’s a good coach that cares about this program! Why aren’t we going after Cosgrove for his mediocre program! 5-6, 6-5 aren’t great seasons!
4-11-2 when is the parade?