Dec. 29, 2002

Box Score

ESTERO, Fla. - Maine scored four second-period goals to break open a tight game and cruise to a n 8-3 victory in the championship game of the Florida Everblades College Classic. The Minutemen fall to 10-7-1 overall with the loss, while the second-ranked Black Bears improve to 15-1-2.

The Minutemen controlled the game early, with three golden opportunities in the first five minutes that Maine goalie Frank Doyle turned aside. The Black Bears then got a break as they killed an early UMass power play, and found Mathew Deschamps coming out of the box, who then fed a streaking Martin Kariya, who flipped the puck top-shelf on a breakaway for a 1-0 lead at the 6:11 mark. The Minutemen, however, responded just over a minute later as James Solon (Acton, Mass.) tied the game on a nifty play. The Minutemen shot the puck in, and Doyle had the puck covered. Solon came in and poked the puck into the net at the 7:18 mark. Peter Trovato (North Attleboro, Mass.) assisted on the goal. UMass then took a 2-1 advantage when Josh Hanson (Medford, Mass.) clanged a shot from the point as Doyle was screened. Craig MacDonald (Canton, Mass.) and Marvin Degon (Millbury, Mass.) assisted on the goal at the 9:56 mark. But the Black Bears answered moments later on a Gray Shaneberger netter and then took the lead on a power-play goal late in the period to take a 3-2 cushion into the second period.

Maine then took control of the second period and took a 4-2 lead when Kariya banged home his second goal of the night on a rebound in front of UMass goalie Gabe Winer (Stoughton, Mass.) at the 9:28 mark. The Black Bears added to the lead with a power-play goal by Damon at the 12:33 mark for a 5-2 advantage, and would tack on two more in the period for a 7-2 advantage heading to the third period.

The Minutemen narrowed the gap to 7-3 just 16 seconds into the third period, when Tim Turner (Saginaw, Mich.) notched his 10th goal of the season on a power-play netter. Turner banged home a rebound off Doyle's pads. Chris Capraro (Medford, Mass.) assisted on the goal. However, Maine would tally another goal just over two minutes later to grab an 8-3 advantage.

UMass placed one player on the All-Tournament team, as Thomas Pöck (Klagenfurt, Austria) was named to the All-Tournament team. He joined three Maine players and one each from Ohio State and Cornell.

The Minutemen return to cooler climates with a pair of conference games next weekend. On Friday, Jan. 3, UMass travels to face Boston College at 7:00 p.m. On Sunday, the Minutemen return home to battle Providence at 3:00 p.m. at the Mullins Center.