Tuesday, November 21, 2000 at Kelley Rink (Conte Forum), Chestnut Hill, MA
BC 7, MC 2                  HOCKEY EAST GAME
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MERRIMACK COLLEGE (HE)      1  0  1 - 2     (4-7-1 overall, 2-5-0 HE)
BOSTON COLLEGE (HE)         3  1  3 - 7     (10-3-0 overall, 5-1-0 HE)

       Shots on Goal       Pen - Min    Power Play
MC      6-10- 6 -- 22        4 - 8        0 - 6
BC     26-10-20 -- 56        6 - 12       1 - 4

MC - Joe Exter          23- 9- 4 - 36 saves/6 goals (44:42)
     Tom Welby           x- x-13 - 13 saves/1 goal  (15:18)
BC - Tim Kelleher        5-10- 4 - 19 saves/2 goals (56:43)
     Tom Egan            x- x- 1 -  1 save/0 goals  ( 3:17)

3 Stars: BC Brian Gionta, MC Nick Parillo, BC Chuck Kobasew

COMMENTS
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Last Friday night BC totally dominated Merrimack in North Andover, 6-1,
in a game that the Warriors planned to forget and put behind them.  With
a full 3 days of rest while BC had to play a tough UNH team on Saturday,
everyone's expectation was that Merrimack would come out fired up to redeem
themselves and show that the first matchup was a fluke.

Folks, with that kind of predictive luck, I don't think any of us should
play the lottery this year.  If it was possible, Merrimack came out with
even less fire and effort than the first time, as BC rolled again, 7-2.
The Eagles flew through and around the MC defense time after time, even
when shorthanded, accumulating 56 shots on goal, 26 in the first period
alone.  Brian Gionta had a special night, scoring a hat trick for his 100th
career goal, with the last 2 goals just 10 seconds apart to set a new Hockey
East record for fastest 2 goals.  There were few highlights for the Warriors;
Nick Parillo did okay in scoring the 2 Merrimack goals, and the occasional
big hit or good defensive play (notably by Eric Pederson.)  But this night
belonged to Boston College.

The Eagles got started early, with Mike Lephart recovering a rebound and
lifting a backhander over Exter in the first minute of the game.  BC kept
the pressure on the first 4 minutes of the game, with several good chances.
Merrimack finally got a rush up ice, and their speedy group of Aquino,
Pyliotis, and Parillo scored on their first shot of the game, with Parillo
collecting a nice feed across the slot from the right side and popping it
past Tim Kelleher.  For a brief minute or so MC had some energy, and it
looked like it might settle down to a hard-fought game.  But 2 penalties
intervened to reverse the momentum again.  After Kelleher turned away a
Sid Mongeau break opportunity on a BC turnover, BC got a 5-on-3 power play
and wasted little time converting.  Marty Hughes fed a pass to the left
circle to Lephart, and his quick pass to the slot enabled Gionta to sweep
the puck by the keeper.  The Eagles kept the pressure on, even after the
power play was up, and got their 3rd goal four minutes later.  Freshman
Chuck Kobasew got his first of two goals following nice work behind the
net by Krys Kolanos and Jeff Giuliano.  Kolanos finally got free right
behind the net, fed Giuliano at the left side, and he touched a nice short
pass in traffic to Kobasew in front for the one-timer.  BC continued to
get opportunities, with Merrimack trying to fight back with Aquino having
a couple of late chances in the period.

In the second, Merrimack looked somewhat better to start, with both teams
having near misses.  Lephart rang one off the post, and Merrimack's Lou
Eyster fired a right-circle slap shot that penetrated the 5-hole but
deflected enough to go wide of the post.  BC took a penalty and it looked
like the Warriors would have a chance to get back in the game.  Instead,
it looked like a BC power play, with 4 shorthanded shots forcing saves.
Exter held firm, though, and Merrimack seemed to gain some life, as the
next few minutes were the best of the game.  I thought that BC's fatigue
factor might be setting in at this point, and MC would fight back.  BC took
another penalty and again the power play was more to BC's advantage as
a 3-on-1 shorthanded rush almost resulted in a goal.  Finally Merrimack
couldn't hold off the Eagles any longer, and another odd-man rush finally
produced the BC goal.  Tony Voce carried the puck deep down the right side,
centered to Kolanos, and his shot was saved on a sprawling kickout.  But
J.D. Forrest got to the puck at the far left and fired a shot that hit
Exter and bounced into the net before he could recover.  Merrimack almost
got that one back on a later power play when a screened shot trickled under
Kelleher's arm on the ice but was swept off the goal line by a desperate
reach backward.  The shots were more even this period, but the score still
favored the Eagles handily.

The third period was a revisiting of the first period for the Warriors.  BC
got lots of shots from lots of angles, many from the 3rd and 4th lines,
who saw lots of action in the frame.  BC had early pressure, setting up
Gionta's fireworks to put the game on ice.  Mike Lephart touched the puck
in the neutral zone for Gionta to carry down the left side.  He accelerated
by the defense, cut to the net, and tried to stuff it short side.  Exter
made the save but the puck bounced out to the other side of the crease,
where Gionta continued his momentum and backhanded the goal over the fallen
keeper.  On the ensuing faceoff, Gionta broke behind the D on the left side
again, collected a soft pass, and swept in to the slot.  A brief fake and
a sliding puck inside the right post provided the exclamation point for
the game, and the fastest 2 goals in HE history.

Tom Welby entered the game for Merrimack after another minute or so, and
immediately was inundated with shots.  To his credit, he made some fine
stops, including a spectacular glove save on the doorstep, robbing Lephart.
Still, the ice was tilted for BC, and Kobasew made it 7-1 on another nice
setup by his linemates.  Kolanos skated into the zone on the right boards,
feathered a pass to Giuliano thru the circle, and he slid a pass back to
the slot for the finish.  All 3 BC players were able to outskate the
opposition on the play, summarizing the type of night it was for Merrimack.
Things were up and down the rest of the period, and Parillo made it 7-2
with a nice shot back to the left side as he cut to the right.  But it
was too little, and way too late.  BC's third-string goalie Tom Egan made
a brief appearance at the end, getting a save in the final seconds.

I've seen Merrimack play many times, and seen them play BC tough in recent
years.  Friday night, we disregarded as a fluke.  But when it was repeated
last night, you had to wonder what was going on with the Warriors.  Coach
Serino stated Friday that he was embarrassed about the lack of effort, and
virtually guaranteed that it wouldn't happen again.  Then, it happens
again, possibly even worse than the first time.  Sure, BC is fast, and
perhaps their style works well against the MC players, but these were 2 of
the weakest efforts I've seen from Merrimack in a long time.  Last night's
game was refereed by Scott Hansen, who has a reputation for "letting the
boys play".  I figured that Merrimack would take advantage by being very
physical, knocking BC around, and hoping a hot goalie would let them steal
one against a more-fatigued team.  Instead, they couldn't catch the BC
players, who had more room to skate than anyone should be allowed.  Hard
to explain, and I'm sure the MC coaching staff is more than puzzled.  I
looked at the post-game lineup for MC, and there were 3 players listed
that I don't even remember seeing on the ice, though I'm sure they got
some minutes.  If it wasn't for Parillo, Pyliotis, and Aquino, this would
have been even worse.

One thing that is evident from BC's point of view, and that is the team
speed and depth is better than in recent years.  The top players are still
very good, but the 3rd and 4th lines are being productive as well.  They
don't score a lot of goals, but they certainly forecheck well and wear the
opposition down.  If the BC scorers can find the net, and the goalkeepers
play solid, the Eagles will continue to win a lot of games.  There are
still moments, especially in the middle period, when BC starts to drift
a bit, but it isn't too severe.  And they still make some bad passes from
the defense when they try too hard to jump-start the offense, etc.  But
they have been strong most of this season with the freshmen stepping in
and playing well from the start.  Barring injuries, I expect this team
to be competitive in every game they play.  They won't win them all, and
still have a long way to go, but it is fun to watch them.

Brian Gionta received a nice standing ovation when they announced the
100 goal career total, a level only 3 other BC players have reached.  I
know a lot of other team's fans like to pick on him, but I don't know
anyone who wouldn't want him on their team.  Frankly, I wish I could see
Merrimack's Anthony Aquino play with a better team, to see how much better
he can be; he is also fun to watch.

The Eagles do not have another game at Conte Forum until January.  They
start the road trip with a game Saturday night at Harvard, and have a
light December schedule.  Merrimack tries (again) to put a bad game behind
them and get back on track, hosting Nebraska-Omaha over the holidays.
--------------------               ----------------------
Rick McAdoo                        [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter"               A pleased BC fan.  GO EAGLES!