AMHERST - From his seat in section C at the other end of the ice, Jim Marcou didn't know what his son James was waiting for Friday night. When he realized, there was nobody happier in the Mullins Center.

James Marcou wasn't specifically waiting for his younger brother on the fourth goal scored by the University of Massachusetts in its win over Maine, it just worked out that way.

With the teams playing 4-on-4, James Marcou stole a puck from a Maine defenseman at the Minuteman blue line and broke the other way. With a defenseman blocking his path to the goal, Marcou hit the brakes and waited. Senior Brett Watson was the first Minuteman to join the attack, but he was covered. Because each team was down a man, Marcou had time to be patient and waited for his brother, who was trailing the play.

James slid the puck to Michael. His first shot hit a stick, but the second whack knocked it past Black bears goalie Shawn Sirman with 4 minutes, 49 seconds left in the second period.

It was the younger Marcou's first collegiate goal and it turned out to be the game winner as the Minutemen prevailed 5-3.

"I saw him going to the net. I knew he didn't have a goal," said James Marcou, needling his brother. "But I was just trying to make a play ... looking for anyone to go the backdoor."

Jim Marcou was beaming afterward.

"That was nice to see," said the proud papa, who drives three hours from Kings Park, N.Y., with his wife Diane for every game. "I was wondering what he was waiting for at first. Michael had set up James a few times, I think that was the first time James set up Michael."

UMass coach Don "Toot" Cahoon thought Michael Marcou might have been the only Minuteman capable of making that play.

"It was a huge goal," Cahoon said. "Michael was probably the only one on the ice who had any idea was he was thinking because he's been around him so much."

Michael Marcou said he was saving the puck.

"It's going on my wall of fame," he said

UMass improved to 3-0 and 2-0 in Hockey East. The Minutemen are at Providence next Friday.

Maine (1-4, 0-1 Hockey East) is at New Hampshire on Saturday.

The goal was a happy moment in a game that turned ugly.

With 1:51 left in the second period, Adam Shemansky had to be taken off the ice on a stretcher after a hit from Minuteman senior defenseman Martin Nolet. Shemansky, who had his head down, hit the boards head-first at an awkward angle. He was taken to Cooley Dickinson Hospital in Northampton.

Maine coach Tim Whitehead was waiting an update on Shemansky's condition after the game.

"We're still waiting to hear. They haven't got him in for X-ray yet," he said. "He had pain in his neck. He was talking and had movement in his legs. They didn't want to take a chance with that and immobilized him."

Cahoon said he thought the play deserved a penalty, but did not think it was dirty.

"I thought he skated by him as well. It wasn't like he just charged him. He didn't hit him from behind. That's why he didn't get an attempt to injure," Cahoon said of Nolet. "At the end of the day, all we wanted was for the kid to be OK."

The game turned particularly chippy after that. Nolet was assessed a five-minute boarding major and when he returned several Maine players appeared to be targeting him.

Joey Diamond hit him after the whistle and Nolet hit back, earning both players minor penalties and a game misconduct. Diamond earned an extra two minutes, giving UMass a power play.

T.J. Syner's goal with the man advantage made the score 5-2. The margin only exacerbated the bad blood.

After a Black Bear goal was waved off because it was hit in with a hand, Brian Flynn added a late goal with 1:02 remaining that counted for Maine. But the Minutemen held on.

There were 75 penalty minutes in the third period and the referees prevented the players who had received misconducts from participating in the postgame handshake.

The Minutemen jumped ahead 1-0 on an early power play. James Marcou fed Casey Wellman coming out of the left-wing corner. The sophomore center's shot somehow squirted through Maine goalie Scott Darling just 1:37 into the game.

A rare goal by Nolet increased the lead to 2-0 2:32 later as he snapped a shot past Darling from the top of the faceoff circle.

Danny Hobbs lost his footing and the puck at the UMass blue line and Maine capitalized. Sophomore Spencer Abbott snared the loose puck, walked in on UMass goalie Paul Dainton (26 saves). When he committed, Abbott alertly slid the puck to Shemansky, who backhanded it into the net to make it 2-1 with 6:27 left in the first period.

Another UMass power-play goal stretched the lead back to two goals. James Marcou's first shot from just off the left post was blocked, but the rebound came right to him and he tapped it home to make it 3-1 with 2:35 left in the first period.

Rather than risk another tough period from Darling, Whitehead turned to Sirman to start the second period. Maine did not bring senior goalie Dave Wilson, who had struggled in his first two games this season. It was the first career action for Sirman, a freshman who made 17 saves.

Caroms off two skates led to Maine's second goal. A referee's skate kept Mike Donnellan's clear from leaving the zone along the left-wing boards. Moments later Will O'Neill of the Black Bears flung the puck from the left-wing boards. It caromed off Doug Kublin's skate past Dainton into the net.

The goal was reviewed to make sure it wasn't kicked in by a Maine player, but was upheld making the score 3-2 with 9:01 left in the second period.