Maine, Calgary Advance to Final of Freeze-Out

Dave LaCouture scored at 9:13 of the final period to give No. 1-ranked Maine the lead en route to a 4-2 victory over sixth-ranked Michigan State Thursday night in the Great Western Freeze-Out at the Forum.

The Black Bears (12-1) will play Calgary, a 5-3 winner over Waterloo, in tonight’s championship game at 8.

Michigan State (7-3-4), the two-time defending champion of the Freeze-Out, will play Waterloo in a 5 p.m. consolation game.

Maine took a 1-0 lead on Eric Fenton’s slap shot from the left circle at 7:38 of the first period. Michigan State tied it at 4:18 of the second period when Steve Guolla won a battle for the puck against the boards and batted it out to Peter White, who flicked it into the net.

Martin Robitaille put Maine back on top with a power-play goal. His series of four fakes left Spartan goaltender Mike Gilmore hopelessly out of position.

Michigan State pulled even with a power play of its own as Rem Murray pounced on a loose puck behind the net and scored on a wrap-around shot.

In the first game, Calgary (14-7-2), ranked No. 8 in Canada, upset No. 3 Waterloo (10-3).