Black Bears ground Eagles

Making his first start in over a month, University of Maine sophomore goalie Shawn Sirman (Blezard Valley, Ontario) responded in stellar fashion, stopping 24 shots en route to a 4-1 victory over third-ranked Boston College on Sunday
night at Alfond Arena in Orono, Maine. Maine got a goal and two assists from Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.), while Joey Diamond (Long Beach, N.Y.), Tanner House (Cochrane, Alberta) and Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) each added a goal and an
assist. The Black Bears improve to 11-6-4 on the season and 8-4-2 in Hockey East play. Boston College falls to 15-6-0 overall and 11-5-0 in conference play.

Joey Diamond broke a scoreless tie 4:33 into the first period on his ninth goal of the season. The play developed when Jeff Dimmen carried the puck into the Eagle zone with Maine on the power play. Dimmen hit Brian Flynn with a pass in the right
circle. Flynn walked in on Boston College goaltender John Muse before sliding a pass to Diamond who one-touched the pass into the back of the net on Muse’s blocker side.

The Black Bears would extend their lead to 2-0 with just 51 seconds remaining in the first period. Mike Cornell (Franklin, Mass.) fired a shot that was kicked behind the net by Muse. Diamond collected the puck and threw a pass to the front of the
net that hit off a Boston College skate and right to Tanner House, who slapped the shot past Muse from the slot.

Maine would waste no time extending their lead in the second period their lead as Flynn notched his 12th goal of the season just 33 seconds into the period. Gustav Nyquist (Malmo, Sweden) carried the puck into the Eagle zone and left it in the right
circle for Flynn. Flynn would gather the puck and fire a wrist shot that snuck past Muse’s blocker side and into the back of the net. Dimmen also assists on the goal for the Black Bears.

Dimmen built the Maine lead to 4-0 at 4:47 of the second period. House would dig the puck out from behind the Boston College net and send it along the boards to Nyquist. Nyquist would control the puck along the right boards before sending a pass
back to Dimmen who launched a slap shot through a crowd and over Muse’s right shoulder for his third goal of the season. The goal knocked Muse out of the game, as he was replaced by sophomore Parker Milner.

Boston College would add a goal 5:36 into the third period when Cam Atkinson tallied his 17th goal of the season. Chris Kreider sent a pass to Brian Gibbons who slid the puck along to Atkinson. Atkinson would pick up the puck and flick it into the
back of the net to cut the lead to 4-1. Sirman made key stops the rest of the way as Maine earned the 4-1 victory.

Sirman was fantastic in net for Maine as he made many flashy saves while picking up his third win of the season moving his overall record to 3-0-2. Muse made seven saves in 24:47 before Milner stepped in and stopped 13 shots of his own. Muse picks
up the loss for Boston College and falls to 13-4-0.

Boston College held the slight edge in shots on goal at 26-24. Maine as 1-for-3 on the man-advantage while shutting out the Boston College power play on all four of its opportunities. It was the second game in a row that Maine did not allow a power
play goal.

The Black Bears return to action on Saturday, Jan. 22 when they travel to Boston for a battle with the Northeastern Huskies. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 PM.

--UM Communications--