DURHAM, N.H. -- When Mike Souza took over as New Hampshire’s head coach prior to this season, one of his main goals was to make the Whittemore Center one of the toughest places to play in college hockey again.
The Wakefield, Mass., native Souza sure knows a thing or two about when “Lake Whit” was rocking. He graduated from UNH in 2000 after playing on four consecutive teams that advanced to the NCAA tournament under legendary coach Dick Umile. And it rocked even more when archrival Maine came down.
The Wildcats (10-9-8, 6-6-5) and Black Bears (10-13-3, 6-7-3) sit in the seventh and eighth-place slots of the Hockey East standings following the weekend, so NCAA berths aren’t in the cards for either team this season unless they make a run and win the league title at TD Garden next month.
But it felt a little bit like the glory days during the series split in Durham.
“It was a great atmosphere and a great weekend of college hockey,” Souza said after Saturday night’s 5-3 Maine victory that was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 6,501. The Wildcats were 3-2 winners in overtime on Friday.
Maine coach Red Gendron felt the same way. After rallying for two third-period goals to force an extra period in the series opener, his club took a 2-0 lead in Saturday’s first period only to see it erased before the first 20 minutes of play were concluded.
It hasn’t been the best or most consistent of seasons for either team record-wise, but Gendron wouldn’t expect anything else out of the border rivalry series that dates back to 1979 and has since been contested 136 times. There was plenty of battle in the Black Bears, and a few bounces helped turned Friday’s tough result around.
“It’s (a matter of) inches. We played well enough to win last night and didn't, and tonight we got the job done. I'm proud of our kids,” Gendron said. “We worked our tails out to come back in last night's game and followed it up with another gritty performance tonight. The team on the other side was typical of every UNH-Maine game I've ever been involved in, and I've been involved in a few. It was hard fought from beginning to end. That's the way it ought to be.”
The Wildcats still have the upper hand on Maine in the league standings as the league picture remains status quo after the weekend split. The home-ice loss stings for UNH senior Ara Nazarian and his teammates. But there are positives, and still plenty of hockey to play.
“There has been no quit in this team all season,” said Nazarian, a Boxford, Mass., native and former Malden Catholic star who has eight points in his last five games after a four-point weekend against Maine. “We obviously don't want to go down two off the start, but we showed great character coming back.
“We’re not going to bury our heads and pout about it. It’s hockey. You’re not going to win every game. … We’ve just got to come back to practice on Monday with a positive attitude and work hard every day and prepare for (next weekend’s two games at) Vermont.”
For the Black Bears, junior Mitchell Fossier was all over the ice on Saturday night, finishing the game with two goals and two assists after dishing out a helper on linemate Chase Pearson’s tying goal late in the third period of the series opener.
Fossier, who hails from Alpharetta, Ga., leads the Black Bears with 27 points through 26 games, but he entered Saturday with only one goal this season back on Nov. 17 at Boston University. He’s been a regular producer alongside Pearson and sophomore Eduards Tralmaks on Maine’s top line all year, leading Hockey East and ranking in a tie for third in the nation with his 24 assists.
It’s hard to imagine such an unusual statistic for a top-line winger, but the NHL free-agent junior has gotten the job even if his own pucks aren’t going in the net.
“He would feel frustrated because he'd have plenty of glorious opportunities for himself to score and (it would result in) a post, a crossbar, a spectacular save by a goaltender, or any number of things,” Gendron said. “When you've played 26 games, you're as good a player as he is, and only have only one goal — we don't put pressure on him but people talk about it, ask about it.”
And Saturday night’s game also validated what Hockey East fans already know about Bruins prospect Jeremy Swayman. The Maine sophomore is a good goaltender.
Swayman has made more saves (185) in his last five games than any Division 1 netminder, including 41 in Saturday’s win. That performance came a week after Swayman made a career-high 53 stops in a 4-3 win over No. 2 UMass and a night after a 31-save in the overtime setback to UNH.
“He made key saves when we needed them. He was terrific,” Gendron said. “When you play a team that's as good as UNH with the weapons they have offensively, they're not only going to get shots on goal but they're going to get some great chances. If you have a good goalie, as we do, it gives you a chance to win. He was certainly all that tonight.”
As Nazarian said, you can’t win every game. Fossier and Swayman had a lot to do with that fact on Saturday night. But the Wildcats have to respond.
“I'm disappointed in the outcome, but it's a true test of where we are as a team to see how we respond to the highs and the lows that go with an exciting weekend like that and not coming out with the win on Saturday night,” said Souza. “It will be a great test of where we are in terms of our mental toughness with how we respond at practice this week.”
