Talk about a Friday night thrill ride.

A heavyweight showdown in Orono sees the Maine Black Bears secure third place in the conference standings, toppling the Massachusetts Minutemen in a back-and-forth dogfight.

A sold-out Alfond Arena had the buzz of a playoff atmosphere Friday evening. The late start time, which was pushed back an hour because the UMaine women's basketball team was competing in the America East playoffs next door a couple of hours earlier, only added to the angst and feeling of enormity the opening game of the final regular season series posed.

The Black Bears entered the series in third place in the Hockey East standings, only two points above the Minutemen, who sat in fourth. Nationally, Maine came into the weekend ranked as the #9 team in the country according to the Pairwise, while UMass lurked menacingly behind them at #10.

To say that there was less separating the two teams than the width of a skateblade would be a vast understatement.

Both teams play in a style as similar as their records. They are grinding, physical, heavy teams that aim to create their scoring chances by putting the puck in deep, winning the board battles, and getting the puck unstuck from the walls to create opportunities in the slot. They are mirror images of each other, which makes sense considering Head Coach Ben Barr honed his craft as an assistant under UMass's head coach, Greg Carvel, before coming to Maine.

While the standings, rankings, and way of playing are similar, there are three distinct differences that favor the Minutemen.

Firstly, Massachusetts is bigger and heavier than Maine. On paper, UMass weighs in, on average, only a single pound heavier and one inch taller than the Black Bears. But on the ice, the Minutemen look noticeably more filled-out, especially their forwards, who, big and strong, are quite the handful to deal with when they are bruising down low on the forecheck.

Second, the Minutemen are vastly more experienced in winning hockey games at this time of the year. In the previous three seasons alone, UMass has won back-to-back Hockey East championships and raised a National Championship banner in 2021. Meanwhile, in the same timeframe, the Black Bears have bowed out in the opening round of the conference tournament for three straight years. The Minutemen are seasoned veterans when it comes to winning pivotal games late in the season, while the Black Bears are brand-new to this. Interestingly enough, on this exact week last year, the final weekend of the regular season, the Minutemen sank the Black Bears season, sweeping Maine's Senior Weekend at the Alfond, who was never able to recover from this hiding, falling days later to Vermont in the playoffs.

Finally, and perhaps the most important difference separating these two programs is the direction in which each of their seasons is trending. Enough has been spoken about Maine's recent struggles, which have seen the Black Bears slipping and sliding down the stretch, going 4-6 in their last ten games. Meanwhile, Massachusetts's last ten games have seen the Minutemen go 6-4, with two of those losses coming to the #1 team in the country, Boston College.

However, Maine could come into Friday evening with the experience of already beating UMass just one month prior. In that early February defensive grudge match in Amherst, the contest's only goal came courtesy of Maine defenseman Brandon Chabrier dancing his way up ice, slotting an impressive solo goal just one minute into the game. Albin Boija would go on to preserve the shutout, and while Maine only allowed fifteen Minutemen shots on goal, UMass missed the net on plenty of grade-a chances in the slot, stemming from winning the puck-battles behind Maine's net.

For the Black Bears to push back against their recent form that has seen them look frustrated, tentative, unconfident, afraid to make mistakes, and at times entirely on the back foot, Maine must return to the mentality they possessed when they shot out of the gates earlier in the season.

A return to an underdog mentality.

Before the game, Barr noted that to help Maine return to this 'something to prove' mindset, the Black Bears would need to play fearless. Instead of worrying about making a mistake that could cause them to second-guess their puck decisions and therefore look herky-jerky and hesitant, Barr stressed the importance of trusting in their ability to execute a play in order to play free and fierce. He added that it will also be vital for Maine to match UMass' expected physicality, making a hit to make a defensive play, taking a hit to make an offensive play, and being diligent and dogged on the backcheck.

Assistant Coach Alfie Michaud mentioned on the midweek Black Bear Coaches Show that for Maine to succeed in the rock fight that will ensue, the Black Bears will look to put the puck in deep, bang away at the UMass defenseman down-low to pen the Minutemen back and get the home-crowd into the game, before winning the puck-back on the forecheck to create their scoring chances from there. According to Michaud, Maine will look to keep the play as deep in Massachusetts territory as possible, far away from Maine's net. Offense will be the Black Bears best form of defense.

Maine's lineup remained completely unchanged from their gutsy Saturday win at Vermont. Thomas Freel, Harrison Scott, and Donovan Houle were the forwards starting the game, while Lynden Breen stayed between Ben Poisson and Sully Scholle, and Nolan Renwick with Bradly and Josh Nadeau. Anthony Calafiore, Parker Lindauer, and Nicholas Niemo, who were all bright last weekend in Burlington, rotated with extra skater Cole Hanson.

On the backend, David Breazeale and Luke Antonacci were paired together, Brandon Holt with Grayson Arnott, and Liam Lesakowski was with Brandon Chabrier. But these d-pairings swapped and switched throughout the evening, as they usually do.

Once again, freshman Albin Boija played in goal for the Black Bears. His stunning second-half play has earned the young Swede the starting role more often than not in the past month.

Even though Friday was considered the last day of classes before spring break, plenty of students packed the Balcony before heading off to break, helping orchestrate the electric, playoff-like Alfond atmosphere that is crucial to helping give Black Bears an extra ounce of energy on the ice.

The opening puck dropped and to the surprise of no one, a black and blue, chippy affair ensued right from the jump. Both teams took the extra second to finish their hits behind the play, making sure to greet each other by ratting their opponent into the glass or pummeling them down to the ice.

But just under three minutes into the contest, a UMass breakout pass heaved up the boards past a pinching Black Bear d-man, off the glass, and into open ice. Massachusetts' Michael Cameron won the footrace to the bouncing puck, before holding off a scampering forward turned last defender Nicholas Niemo with good body positioning. Cameron didn't allow Niemo inside positioning and poked the puck one-handed between Boija's wickets into the back of the net, stunning the previously rapturous crowd. It's a goal Boija would have wanted back, as it looked as though the Black Bear netminder misread the bounce of the puck and overcommitted. But from this point on, Boija was faultless.

The goal foreshadowed much of UMass' gameplan, who were happy enough to breakout through chipping the puck to center ice when under Maine's forechecking pressure,

Since much of Maine's forecheck relies on their blueliners pinching aggressively from the point, instead of trying to go through Maine, the Minutemen went over the Black Bears. This allowed UMass' speedy and strong forwards to pounce on the bouncing puck in the neutral zone, forcing Maine's blueliners to either veer away from pinching or scramble back to quickly try and fumble control of the rolling puck under pressure with Minutemen flying at them up ice.

For the most part, Maine's d-men were exceptional at recovering in time, settling down the bouncing puck, and dishing it d-to-d to keep the Black Bears in control of the puck and away from UMass' lurking sticks, who were foaming at the mouth to pounce in the neutral zone.

Brandon Chabrier particularly exemplified this skillful puck control at center ice under pressure to a tee. One of Maine's best skaters, Charbier excels at racing to loose pucks, utilizing his exceptional edge work to transition from skating forwards to backwards, spinning around with his head up to find a pass in the blink of an eye, making the figure-skating-esc moves look effortless and natural.

During the first portion of the opening period, it was the Minutemen who were causing the Black Bears more of a fright on this Friday night.

Quicker in anticipating where loose pucks would emerge and winning the majority of puck battles, UMass purred around Boija's net, with their large frames holding off Maine's defenders who had trouble separating Minutemen from the puck during the slow and grinding cycle. Most of Massachusetts' chances came from them winning the battles behind Maine's net, spinning off a Black Bear, before finding a fellow Minuteman lurking in a quiet spot in the slot, forcing Boija to come up with plenty of big saves in tight.

About halfway through the period, the momentum swung in Maine's favor, in large part thanks to Nolan Renwick. The Black Bears started to find their feet on the forecheck, forcing turnovers and creating their own scoring chances from down-low. The spark plug line of Scott, Freel, and Houle, as usual, lit the forechecking fire with their in-your-face, tenacious, physical play. Soon after, Maine began stacking shifts, with all four lines successfully creating offense and keeping the momentum swinging towards Maine.

Renwick, first slotted between the Nadeau brothers after last Friday's loss at Vermont, began to cause havoc among the UMass ranks. The Saskatchewan native, who missed the middle portion of the season with an ankle injury, has struggled to find his best fit in the lineup since returning from injury. Meanwhile, the Nadeau brothers have been stymied of late, facing the ever-increasingly structured and tight defenses that don't give the brothers any time or space on the puck, hacking and whacking away at them to negate their offensive flair.

But the Canadian Prairie boy, alongside the two Canadian Maritimers, looked to have struck gold playing together. Renwick's constant energy and bruising style of play is like a wrecking ball, sending bodies flying to the ice and creating overall chaos around him. From here, the Nadeaus can pick up the pieces left in Renwick's wake, utilizing the now more open ice to set each other up with otherworldly looks.

With around five minutes left in the period, the Nadeau show returned to Orono.

On a quick developing rush, Bradly tore over the UMass blueline. At the top of the left faceoff circle, the freshman pulled out a nasty toe-drag, pulling the puck into a shooting position in one fluid motion before firing a blistering shot off the inside of the post. Half of the Alfond thought the puck went in, but while many were scratching their heads thinking it was a good goal, UMass countered the other way immediately. The partial Minuteman breakaway was read by Boija, who stuck to his post.

With the puck still under UMass control in their attacking zone, Bradly's stick was the first to a loose puck along the boards, poking it past the pinching defenseman and into open ice. He was the first to jump on the loose puck he created, as the back-and-forth sequence now turned Maine's way with the Black Bears transitioning with a quick developing three-on-one. The first-round draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes gained the blueline at the left side of Maine's odd-man rush triangle. Renwick darted towards the back post, creating space for Josh at the tip of the triangle to receive the pass in the high slot. The older brother took a moment to survey his options before sending the puck right back from once it came onto Bradly's stick at his favorite spot by the right-faceoff circle. Maine's #82 smashed home the one-timer into the roof of the net, a play in which he and Josh have become quite notorious in these parts of the country.

The goal was Bradly's seventeenth of the season, Josh's twenty-fifth assist of the year, and for both brothers, signaled the fortieth point of their freshman campaigns. While the pass and the shot will be remembered long into Alfond's memory, Bradly's tenacious defensive play by the half-boards to create the attack exemplifies the little things that win or lose a hockey game, especially at this time of the year.

The breathless opening frame ended with the score knotted at one. Interestingly, each team's goal was created by a forward beating an aggressively pinching d-man to the puck. Barr did say he wanted his team to play fearless, after all.

Maine carried their momentum with them into the second period. The opening minutes of the frame were some of the best, most aggressive, front-footed play the Alfond has seen from the Black Bears all season.

For minutes on end, Maine's forecheck was all over UMass. Like clogs in a machine, the Black Bears were clicking on all cylinders, repeatedly and fluidly supporting the play against the wall, not allowing UMass a moment's rest. Similar to pistons in an engine, they were constantly firing at the right time, continuously in position, always making the right play, and keeping the pressure constant and unwavering.

Maine's d-men were great at activating themselves into the attack, taking the puck just inside the blueline before stickhandling their way to beat the first pursuing Minuteman. This opened up tons of space and passing lanes as the Black Bear blueliners looked ever-so-threatening with the puck on their sticks in the high slot.

This all-out attack continued for quite some time. With every passing minute, the Alfond grew more and more giddy with their team's dominance.

The Alfond was rocking and the Bears were buzzing.

Maine had UMass on the ropes, but credit to the Minutemen who bent but did not break, as the Black Bears couldn't cash in on their superiority. Eventually, UMass could release the boiling pressure and soon began to pester the net themselves.

The large Massachusetts bodies circled and lurked threateningly around Boija's net, setting up tons of screens and traffic in front of Boija's eyes. Maine's goaltender was able to utilize his almost x-ray vision to peer through the traffic jam, reading the play, and finding the puck whenever it was hurled towards him. Even when Boija couldn't see the puck, it always found him. There were a couple of times during mad scrambles in front of his net that Boija got completely spun around, but still kept the biscuit out of the basket, even when it looked destined to sneak its way in.

Credit to Maine's defenseman, who, for the most part, routinely cleared the puck when it was bouncing around in the blue paint of the goal crease. A couple of Maine penalties kept the Black Bears on the back foot for the rest of the period, which saw Massachusetts continue to look ever so threatening moving the puck around Maine's net. But the Black Bears PK was resolute, not dragging themselves out of position, sacrificing their bodies with countless shot blocks, and clearing the puck regularly, never really allowing UMass to set up significant and sustained zone time when on the power play.

After Maine started the period so positively, UMass dominated for the remainder of the second frame. Yet the Black Bears were able to escape to the dressing room for the second intermission with the game still all square at one.

If the first two periods saw each side have their moments on top, the third period began as a back-and-forth slugfest, with each team creating plenty of juicy chances as the game went end-to-end at a blistering pace.

Both teams fearlessly dove in front of shot after shot, pertaining to the notion that at this time of year, the chance of a broken bone is well worth saving a potential goal as each team saw its fair share of warriors limp off the ice.

Special teams' success suddenly became exponentially crucial in a game that was as even as possible, as every tiny advantage was magnified tenfold. Special teams would decide this tightest of hockey games.

Early into the final frame, the Black Bears committed another infraction, giving UMass its third power play in a row. But as the Alfond Faithful watched on with hearts in their mouths, the Black Bears penalty kill laid down the hammer, completely shutting down the Minutemen's power play, which could not even record a shot on net during its two-minute man advantage.

Minutes later, it was the Black Bears' turn to get their licks on the man advantage. But similar to UMass' failed PP, Maine's power play sputtered. The Black Bears found it extremely difficult to cross the blueline and set up their cycle. The Minutemen stood strong and unwavering at the blueline, forcing Maine to constantly circle back and try again.

With just over five minutes left in regulation, the Black Bears' power play units were given one more chance. This time, they made it count.

Maine was able to enter the zone cleanly and set up their circling cycle. Patient and poised with the puck, the Black Bears began to move around the UMass PK with lateral passes. But then Sully Scholle took it upon himself to make something happen, wheeling around the top of the circle, probing for just an inch of net to shoot at. Dealing in the high slot, Scholle wristed a quick shot onto the net. The puck had eyes to find its way through the maze of net-front traffic and perfectly onto the stick of Thomas Freel, who made himself a home in front of UMass' crease. Freel managed to get the deftest of touches on the puck and it was just enough to redirect it past the Minuteman goaltender, finding twine in the net.

The Alfond exploded as the roof thundered in jubilee. Former strangers instantly became friends as hugs and high-fives were passed around the delighted sea of Black Bear Nation. In what felt like a celebration months in the making, relief, joy, and euphoria rang off the Alfond's famed rafters, which were vibrating with noise.

After UMass dominated Maine for much of the second and some of the third periods, it felt as though the Minutemen were most likely the team to score next.

They had the Black Bears on the ropes, but Thomas Freel's go-ahead goal with just over four minutes remaining proved to be the knockout punch.

Even though UMass threw everything but the kitchen sink on Maine's net until the final buzzer, the Alfond Faithful were confident that their netminder and their team would close out the victory.

But a backdoor, cross-crease Minuteman opportunity in the dying moments of the game stopped hearts around the rink, with what looked to be a certain UMass goal into a gaping net.

But Boija sprawled out, somehow getting his toe on the puck in a sprawling save that would be sure to pull groins for us less limber. The save of the season, the puck was destined to be kept out of the holy goalie's cage.

Breazeale smartly ate the puck in the corner a few moments later, wearing down the final remaining seconds on Maine's most important victory of the decade.

This was the win needed to lock Maine into third place in the conference standings, guaranteeing the Black Bears quarterfinal game to be played on Alfond ice.

And it was the victory that all but assured the Black Bears an at-large bid for the National Tournament, their first since 2012.

Most importantly, it was a performance that rekindled memories of the good ol' days. No, not the nineties, but this past Fall.

The Black Bears look to have rediscovered their blistering stride from earlier in the season. While there is still much to improve, things look to be trending in the right direction.

While Saturday's game now has no significance on Maine's Hockey East ambitions, it's still another massive game in terms of Pairwise points and potential tournament seedings.

If anything, it's another night to keep this brand-new winning streak going. May this one never end.

Maine showed that they still possess everything needed to win hockey games.

A hot goalie. Their sharpshooters refinding their form. Endless heart, character, and desire. Special teams brilliance. A belief and mental toughness that refuses to quit even when their backs are against the wall. The ability to simply find a way to win.

When you say Maine Black Bears, they've got it all.