The University of Maine men’s ice hockey team has reached the first half break stumbling down the stretch and sit at a .500 record after a promising start. Meanwhile the men’s and women’s basketball teams will be finishing up non-conference play before stepping into America East.
The hockey team started at 7-3-2 that included a home sweep over rival UNH. However the Black Bears went 1-5-1 on a seven game road trip and are now 8-8-3 and await a return to action in non-conference on December 29 at home against American International. Maine sits at 4-6-2 in Hockey East play that includes an 0-6-1 mark against the top teams in the league UMass-Lowell, Providence, Northeastern, and UMass. The scoring has been the issue as junior goaltender Jeremy Swayman is keeping the Black Bears in alot of games with a .926 save percentage and a 2.81 goals against. Maine is only averaging 2.3 goals per game (45 in 19 games). Luckily the Bears will get some home cooking in the remaining 12 league games they have left, with nine being at the Alfond Arena to try and secure a home playoff series in the first round.
The men’s basketball team have shown some improvement currently at 3-8. The 2018-19 team was 5-27 overall. The Black Bears had a solid opening season win over Merrimack, who then turned around and beat Big 10 opponent Northwestern two days later. After a tough second half in a loss to Harvard, Maine played well out West in a nine point defeat to the University of Portland, and stayed with #22 University of Washington for a majority of the first half in a 19 point loss. After a win over in-state opponent Maine Maritime, the Bears played solidly only allowing 46 points but only scoring 26 at current #9 Virginia and also staying right with UConn in the first half in another loss four days later. In their last four games Maine has a loss to Northeastern, a close win over Central Connecticut State, and two home losses to Dartmouth and Quinnipiac. The team now has three non-conference games left traveling to UMass and Hawaii, before a home game with Columbia before conference action kicks off January 5th at home against Stony Brook. Andrew Fleming in the Bears leader with 11.1 points per game and 5.6 rebounds.
The women’s basketball team have faced injury problems and are currently 4-8 after a huge win over Wisconsin-Green Bay last Friday at home on a buzzer beater by Maeve Carroll to lift them to the one point victory. The Bears are without leading scorer Blanca Millan for the rest of the season as the senior was lost to an ACL injury and had surgery. They also have been without Fanny Wadling and Madson Lefft, who is a graduate transfer from Delaware. There is no update on Wadling who has been suffering from a concussion, and Lefft is expected to play soon. Senior forward Alex Bolozova is also lost for the year due to injury. The teams starting five currently only has one starter from last season in Dor Saar. Some highlights in the first half included a win over in-state Division III opponent Husson, where Kelly Forgarty set the three-point record at UMaine with nine in the game that broke former player and now assistant coach Parise Rossignols record of eight and also broke a Black Bears three game losing streak. After losses at home to Harvard and then Dartmouth on the road where they only scored 40 and 41 points respectively, Maine knocked off the Phoenix last Friday at the CIC on the Carroll shot. UWGB was ranked #15 in the mid major poll and the win is one that possibly provides a spark for the Bears. The team has two non-conference games left with a matchup this Saturday at home against Northeastern, and then December 30 at Drexel before opening up America East play Jan 2nd home against Hartford who is currently winless (0-11). Saar leads the way with 10.8 points per outing and almost four assists.
