Is Scott Darling the Maine hockey team's No. 1 goalie now? No one will say yay or nay, but Darling's 24-save performance in a 2-1 win Sunday over Boston College helped the freshman's cause.

Still, protocol for the Black Bears this season has been to rotate Darling and Dave Wilson.

"I wish we had two games," Maine coach Tim Whitehead said. "I thought both guys deserved the opportunity to play one game and Scott certainly made the most of it. He made some big stops and really had good control with his movement and with the puck. I was pleased."

Whitehead informed Darling over the weekend that he would start against the Eagles, the defending national champions and the No. 2 team in the nation in both major polls. Darling wasn't necessarily intimidated by the prospect in the hours leading up to the start, but reflected well upon the win.

"I've never played for a national championship, so this is the most exciting win for me, personally," Darling said.

While Darling only made five first-period saves, the freshman goalie made a critical stop on Eagles forward Brock Bradford, Hockey East's leading goal-scorer (seven goals in seven games), less than eight minutes into the game. Darling slid across the goal mouth and split to make a save on the senior forward's shot from the right circle.

"He made some very timely saves, and made a kick save on that one," Bradford said. "He played well for a young goaltender in this environment, so you've got to give him credit."

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The Black Bears watched Boston College's 4-1 loss to Notre Dame on Friday, in which the Eagles went 0 for 8 on the power play. The Black Bears used it as a tutorial, especially when it came to special teams, and Boston College finished 0 for 6 on the power play against the Black Bears.

"They have one of the best power plays in the country and Notre Dame shut them down," Flynn said. "The coaches took some things from that game and we did a pretty good job of shutting them down."

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Consider Boston College Coach Jerry York among those who are impressed by this year's Black Bears.

"Maine, this is certainly a better team than they had last year," the 14-year Eagles coach said. "It's November so you kind of have to wait and see how things develop but they're a lot tougher this year."

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