ORONO, Maine — It was back to practice for the University of Maine men’s hockey team on Sunday afternoon, and it was a more confident group after its overtime ties against Michigan State and North Dakota in the IceBreaker Tournament over the weekend in Portland.
Maine won shootouts after the overtimes as Steven Swavely and Nolan Vesey notched the goals. Michigan State and North Dakota were unable to score on senior Matt Morris and freshman Rob McGovern, respectively.
North Dakota, which won the tournament via a points system, catapulted to No. 1 in the country in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll. North Dakota, fourth in the initial poll two weeks ago, also was No. 1 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine poll.
“This weekend was a big confidence booster for our team,” said Maine senior center and captain Swavely. “We know we can play with anybody in the country.”
“North Dakota has [NHL] draft picks up and down their lineup. They’re always in the top five in the country. This was a huge weekend for us,” said senior defenseman and alternate captain Conor Riley.
North Dakota had 11 NHL draft choices in Saturday’s lineup.
“We didn’t give up a 5-on-5 goal all weekend. That’s a good start to the season, a great start,” said junior defenseman Eric Schurhamer.
All four goals surrendered by Maine came on the power play. The Black Bears limited Michigan State to 13 even-strength shots on goal. The Spartans had 23 on their 11 power plays.
Morris had played six games in 2012-13 but missed the 2013-14 season after having hip surgery. Sean Romeo was a freshman last season when Maine’s 3.26 goals-against average was 51st among 59 teams.
Romeo didn’t play last weekend because of health reasons, but Morris was sharp in the 3-3 tie with Michigan State. His 33 saves included 10 Grade-A stops. McGovern turned in a spectacular, 44-save performance in the 1-1 tie with North Dakota that earned him tourney MVP honors. He had 18 Grade-A stops.
“One thing we don’t have to worry about this year is our goaltending. We have three good goalies,” said Riley.
One of the areas coach Red Gendron’s Black Bears need to work on is their offense. Only two of their four goals were even strength, and they couldn’t sustain much forecheck pressure against North Dakota.
“Our offensive poise and execution has to get better,” said Gendron.
Maine plays at 1-0-1 Union on Friday and Saturday. Union tied Sacred Heart 1-1 and beat Boston University 5-3 last weekend.
Crowds energized Black Bears
The IceBreaker attracted 10,194 fans for the two Maine games: 5,007 Friday and 5,187 on Saturday.
“The fans were great. They were loud,” said Swavely. “The energy and noise in the building was great to see. It gave us a boost.”
“It was a great atmosphere,” said McGovern. “The fans were going crazy. I didn’t realize how loud they were until after the game.”