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Men's Ice Hockey To Host Mercyhurst
Oct. 16, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
The University of Maine men's ice hockey plays its home-opener this weekend when it hosts Mercyhurst in a two-game series. The Black Bears enter the weekend with a record of 0-2 after dropping a pair of games at 10th-ranked Denver. Mercyhurst is also 0-2 on the season after dropping a pair games to Ohio State and Notre Dame at the Lefty McFadden Invitational in Dayton, Ohio last weekend. MAINE FALLS IN SEASON-OPENING SERIES AT #10 DENVER: The University of Maine men's ice hockey team dropped a pair of games last weekend at the University of Denver, in Denver, Colo. The Black Bears lost the first game 2-0, before falling 3-1 on Saturday night. On Friday, Ben Bishop (Des Peres, Mo.) stopped a career-high 46 shots, but Maine still fell 2-0 as the Black Bears allowed a pair of power play goals. On Saturday, Denver scored just six seconds into the game, before the Black Bears answered back with a five-on-three goal by Bret Tyler (Maynard, Mass.) with assists from Matt Duffy (Windham. Maine) and Billy Ryan (Milton, Mass.). The Pioneers added another first period goal and a second period goal to earn the 3-1 win. Bishop finished the game with 27 saves. BISHOP NAMED PURE HOCKEY DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Junior netminder Ben Bishop was named the Hockey East Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week on Monday, Oct. 15. Bishop stopped 73-of-78 shots that he faced in Maine's opening weekend at Denver. He made a career-high 46 saves on Friday night against the Pioneers and followed that up with 27 saves on Saturday at Denver. Bishop finished the weekend with a 2.55 goals against average and a .936 save percentage.
SCOUTING MAINE'S NEWCOMERS: Maine has 10 newcomers listed on its roster for the 2007-08 campaign. Among the rookies are seven forwards and three defensemen. Glenn Belmore is a 6-0 forward from Cornwall, Ontario. He scored 45 points for the Wellington Dukes of the OPJHL last season. Robby Dee is a 6-1 forward from Plymouth, Minn. He spent the last two seasons playing for the Omaha Lancers. In 2006-07, he scored 11 goals and added 14 assists for 25 points. Tanner House is a 6-1 forward from Cochrane, Alberta. In 2006-07, House notched 14 goals and added 55 assists for 69 points for the Penticton Vees. Keif Orsini, a 5-11 native of Montreal, Quebec, played for St. Jerome last season. In 44 games, he scored 25 goals and added 45 assists for 70 points. Nick Payson is a 5-11 forward from Veazie, Maine. Payson played the past two seasons for the Portland Junior Pirates. He played in 40 games a year ago with 23 goals and 17 assists. Prior to that, he played two seasons at Bangor High School for current Maine assistant coach Dan Kerluke. Lem Randall is a 6-1 forward from Snow Lake, Manitoba. He scored 37 goals a year ago with 64 assists for 101 points. Andrew Sweetland is a 6-2 forward from Bonavista, Newfoundland. He played for the Amherst Ramblers last season where he set a team record with 56 goals. He also added 61 assists for 117 points in 54 games. ?Mike Banwell is a 6-2 defenseman from Scarborough, Ontario. He played for the Pickering Panthers last year where he scored 28 points. Jeff Dimmen is a 6-0 defenseman from Colorado Springs, Colo. He played for the St. Louis Bandits where he scored nine goals and added 38 assists. Josh Van Dyk is a 6-1 defenseman from Woodstock, Ontario. He played for the Hamilton Red Wings the past two seasons. He scored 19 goals and added 40 assists a year ago. ?Also joining the Black Bears is Kevin Swallow, a transfer from Dartmouth College. Swallow, a native of Stanwood, Mich., will be eligible in the fall to 2008. 10 GAME STREAK SNAPPED: The Black Bears were undefeated in 10-straight season openers dating back to the 1997-98 season prior to Maine's 2-0 loss to Denver on Oct. 12. Over than span, Maine had defeated Lake Superior State University, Bowling Green, Nebraska-Omaha, Vermont, Air Force, Minnesota four times and tied North Dakota. Four of those 10 games had been played at Alfond Arena in Orono. Maine last lost a season-opener in 1996-97 when it fell to Michigan 3-0 prior to last Friday. In that season, the Black Bears then rebounded to defeat Lake Superior State 7-4 two days later. ROOKIES IN THE LINEUP: Maine had seven rookies in the lineup last Friday night at Denver. Five freshmen forwards including Robby Dee, Tanner House, Andrew Sweetland, Glenn Belmore, Lem Randall were joined by defensemen Jeff Dimmen and Josh Van Dyk. On Saturday, rookie Keif Orsini made his Maine debut. BISHOP SETS CAREER-HIGH IN SAVES: Ben Bishop made a career-high 46 saves on Friday night at Denver. His previous high for saves was 42 set on Jan. 5, 2007 against UMass Lowell. Bishop made 22 stops in the second period alone against the Pioneers. |
