TRENTON, N.J. — The Maine men’s hockey team finally found its offense Friday, but lost another game in the most excruciating manner possible.
Massachusetts forward Ray Pigozzi was credited with the game-winning goal by virtue of standing nearby when a harmless centering pass clipped the skate of Maine defenseman Eric Schurhamer and slipped past goaltender Rob McGovern 2:14 into overtime. It gave the Minutemen a 5-4 victory in the opening game of the Capital City Classic at the Sun National Bank Center.
Maine overcame a pair of two-goal deficits to force overtime, showing a great deal of grit, only to fall to 0-3-3 on the season. The Black Bears entered the game with just five goals in their first five games.
“It’s tough to come back and come that close and take a team to overtime, especially being down two goals,” said Maine freshman forward Daniel Perez, whose first career goal cut the deficit to 4-3 in the third period. “It’s frustrating, but we have a big game (Saturday). We’ve got to have a short memory here. We’re six games in now and we’ve got to find a way to get ‘W’s.’ ”
Maine faces Princeton at 4:30 p.m. Saturday. UMass (4-0-1) plays the winner at 7:30 p.m. for the tournament title.
The Black Bears, who had been shut out in their previous two games, took the lead late in the first period on a Will Merchant goal. The senior forward was standing alone in front of Minutemen goaltender Nic Renyard and was able to redirect a slapshot from the left point by Dan Renouf.
UMass bolted to a 3-1 lead by capitalizing on Maine defensive miscues in the second period. But Merchant struck again for his team-leading third goal to give the Black Bears a lift heading into intermission.
Merchant said the key to the comeback for Maine was maintaining confidence in its game plan.
“We knew it was working. It was how we got our first couple of goals,” Merchant said. “Just a couple of greasy goals, just getting in a good area, getting pucks to the net, not getting too cute.”
The Minutemen pushed out to a 4-2 lead at 5:24 of the third period when a Shane Walsh shot from the slot thudded into McGovern’s pad, and then squeezed through his legs and into the net. The freshman made 32 saves, but that was his biggest mistake of the game.
Perez, from nearby Bloomfield, New Jersey, thrilled the dozen family members in attendance by pulling Maine within 4-3 at 6:38 of the period. Andrew Tegeler carried the puck in deep and dropped it for a trailing Perez to the right of the crease. He beat Renyard high.
“When he started cutting toward the middle I was going to try and get behind him and he left it for me,” Perez said of Tegeler. “I had time. I don’t remember much; I kind of blacked out. I remember just kind of throwing it to the net. It was a great feeling, especially getting it at home.”
Perez and Tegeler were on Maine’s fourth line, centered by Cedric Lacroix, and they earned plenty of ice time. Red Gendron said it was the most he’d played a fourth line in his three years as Maine coach.
Lacroix got Maine even at 4-4 at 9:35 of the third period, stuffing the rebound of a Perez shot past a sprawling Renyard.
The Black Bears put 37 shots on goal in a spirited effort.
And ended up with nothing to show for it, except the knowledge that they can generate offense after all.
“We played our tails off all night long. In many ways, we controlled the game. But it comes down to puck management and it was turnovers that cost us,” Gendron said.
“We took a huge step forward. But there’s more to do. I’ve got a reason to get up (Saturday) morning.”
Mark Emmert can be contacted at 791-6424 or at:
Twitter: MarkEmmertPPH
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