January 23, 1993
Hockey East league game at Walter Brown Arena, Boston, MA
 
UNH (12-9-2)    2  -  0  -  4  --  6
BU (15-5-2)     2  -  2  -  0  --  4
 
Scoring                                                          UNH-BU
First period:
 
1. BU, Thornton 10 (unassisted) 10:08 ppg                         0 - 1
2. UNH, Lenz 1 (Schmidtke, Thomson) 11:59 ppg                     1 - 1
3. BU, Thornton 11 (Mark Bavis, Mike Bavis) 16:13                 1 - 2
4. UNH, Schmidtke (Klym) 17:07 ppg                                2 - 2
 
Second period:
 
5. BU, Sacco 13 (Friedman) 5:16 ppg                               2 - 3
6. BU, Friedman 11 (Pandolfo, Sacco) 19:07                        2 - 4
 
Third period:
 
6. UNH, Stewart (unassisted) 2:50 ppg                             3 - 4
7. UNH, Malone 4 (Poole) (sorry, missed the time on this one)     4 - 4
8. UNH, Cooper (Royal) 12:01                                      5 - 4
9. UNH, Schmidtke (?) 19:45 eng                                   6 - 4
 
Shots:
UNH: 5 - 7 - 6 = 18
BU: 12 - 17 - 11 = 40
 
Referees: R. Fowkes, Gravellese.
Linesman: B. Jones
Att: 3,185
 
Summary:
        Despite being outshot by greater than a 2-1 margin, UNH pulled
out a come-from behind 6-4 win over BU with 4 unanswered goals in the third
period.
        UNH came out flying and tough, determined to show BU they mean business.
Both teams had some good chances early on, but it Steve Thornton connected first
at 10:08 when UNH's Scott Malone went off for a hook to give BU a 1-0 lead.
UNH came right back with a power-play goal of their own, when Lenz's shot
from the top of the slot popped out of BU goalie Derek Herlofsky (whom the
Globe reported would not be dressed for the evening) glove and rolled across the
line for the score at 11:59. Steve Thornton notched his second of the period
to put BU up again at 16:13 when took a nice feed from Mark Bavis and poked
a soft shot through UNH netminder Brett Abel's pads. UNH returned the favor
less than a minute later when Schmidtke's shot from the point sailed past the
screened Derek Herlofsky and into the upper-right hand corner on a power-play
to knot it at 2.
        The second period was all BU, as Dave Sacco connected at 5:16
after lifting Doug Friedman's rebound over Abel's stick for the power-play
goal, making it 3-2. As in the previous game, UNH used their speed and
forechecking to throw BU out of sync. However, the UNH offense slacked
off a bit and had trouble brining the puck anywhere near the BU zone,
perhaps due to the several penalties called on the Wildcats during the period.
All was quiet until 19:07 when Doug Frieman dished up a nice shot from just
inside the right-hand face-off circle to beat Abel low on his stick side
for his 11th of the year and putting the Terriers up by 2 at the end of the
period.
        UNH has scored 40 of their 102 season goals in the third period,
and this game was a prime example of why not underestimate a team like this.
BU still outshot the Wildcats in the period but thanks to some stellar
goaltending from Brett Abel, UNH pulled this one out of the hat.
Glenn Stewart chalked up his second in as many nights when he single-handedly
won a face-off deep in the Terrier zone, pulled away from two defensemen,
and wheeled right into the slot, serving up a nice, quick shot that
Herlofsky swatted at with his glove--and missed for another UNH power-play
goal. It looked like BU might pick up from where they left off in the second
period when Jay Pandolfo and Dave Sacco had a 2-0 breakaway at 6:56 but
Abel made a beautiful split save to prevent what was almost a sure goal.
Then, just a few minutes later (sorry, I missed the time on this and forgot
to check the paper) my old high-school teammate Scott Malone one-timed a
nice wrist shot from the slot after Herlofsky kicked out Poole's rebound
and dove to try and cover the loose puck. It was all downhill from there
for BU, as Jesse Cooper sneaked in on Herlofsky and beat him with a low
shot on his stick side for the go-ahead goal at 12:01.
        The next 12 minutes featured BU trying desperately to get the tying
goal, and despite a power-play, Brett Abel made several magnificent saves
on shots by Pandolfo and Thornton point-blank to help the Wildcats hold
on. With Herlofsky pulled in the final minute of the game, Schmidtke
(I'm not 100% sure of this, anyone want to clarify?) broke down the
left side and picked up a rebound that banged the post, flipping it into
the empty net for the score and the game.
        The story of the game was Brett Abel for UNH, who showed flashes
of brilliance in the first two periods but completely slammed the door
on BU in the third to preserve the win. IMHO, there were a couple of goals
that Herlofsky should have had, but Abel deserves credit for an impressive
36 save performance, while Herlofsky managed just 12 saves on a total of
17 shots (not counting empty-net)...
Credit also UNH with some good old-fashioned hustle...9 times out of 10,
it was the UNH guy that came away with the loose puck. The Wildcats showed
they are a force to be reckoned with as they played an all-around solid
and very determined game, especially when down by 2 at the start of the third,
unfortunately BU began to let up a little at the same time.
        UNH hosts Maine Friday at Snively, while BU hosts UMass-Lowell in
a Wednesday night matchup, then travels to the Forum in Billerica for the
return engagement Friday evening.
 
--Sid
BU '94
Got your Beanpot tickets yet?!?