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Maine Hockey Falls in Overtime on Penalty Shot
Oct. 9, 2004
ORONO, Maine- The Maine men's ice hockey team was defeated on a penalty shot by North Dakota's Drew Stafford at 2:58 in overtime for a 4-3 final score in front of a sold-out crowd of 5,641 fans at Alfond Arena. Maine was led by Derek Damon, who had two goals. Maine, ranked second in the nation, is now 1-1-0. North Dakota is 1-0-0 on the season and ranked fifth in the nation. "North Dakota was a very worthy opponent," said Maine head coach Tim Whitehead. "We did not leave anything on the ice tonight and on the final power play of regulation we got some good chances. We played better each period and had some good moments, but they got the last one. It is tough to lose in overtime on a penalty shot." The Fighting Sioux got on the board first, scoring 1:42 into the game as Rory McMahon scored with assists by Mike Prpich and Rylan Kaip. Maine was able to tie the game at 1-1 with a power play goal by Derek Damon (Bangor, Maine) at 9:54 with assists by Ben Murphy (North Andover, Mass.) and Troy Barnes (Pembroke, Ontario). The Black Bears had several good chances in the period, with many coming with a 5-on-3 advantage. In the first period, Maine took nine shots to North Dakota's seven. Maine took the lead early in the second period, as Murphy knocked the puck out to Josh Soares (Hamilton, Ontario) who was able to get the power play goal. The Fighting Sioux responded with a goal by Andy Schneider, with assists by Robbie Bina and Rastisla Spirko. North Dakota took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Brady Murray, with assists by Colby Genoway and Spirko. In the period, Maine was outshot ten to nine. At 4:13 in the third period, Keenan Hopson (Prince George, B.C.) passed the puck to Tom Zabkowicz (Greendale, Wisc.) whose shot on net rebounded out to Damon who buried it past Jordan Parise to tie the game at 3-3. Late in the third period, Michel Léveillé (Levis, Quebec) had a short-handed break-away that was saved. Maine's power play unit had a chance to win the game at the end of regulation, but could not score and the game headed to overtime. Shots were even at eight a piece in the period.
North Dakota successfully killed a Maine power play to begin the overtime session. At 2:58, the Maine goal was knocked loose on a North Dakota scoring chance and the Fighting Sioux were awarded a penalty shot. Drew Stafford put the puck past Jimmy Howard (Ogdensburg, N.Y.) for the win. In goal, Maine's Jimmy Howard had four goals against and 25 saves on the day. For the Fighting Sioux, Jordan Parise (Fairbault, Minn.) had three goals against and 23 saves. Maine had 13 penalties for 26 minutes and North Dakota had 17 for 45 minutes. On power plays, Maine was 2-10 and North Dakota was 0-8. Maine will play the second game of the two-game series against fifth-ranked North Dakota at 7:00 pm in a game televised locally on WABI. Maine will officially retire the Shawn Walsh shamrock in a ceremony prior to the game. Limited tickets are still available for the game. For more information, please call 207-581-BEAR or visit www.GoBlackBears.com. |
