Friday, November 22, 1991 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
NONCONFERENCE GAME
Kent Golden Flashes (3-6-0) 1 1 2 - 4
Merrimack Warriors (5-4-0) 1 3 1 - 5
FIRST PERIOD MC-K
1. MC1, Jeff Massey #3 (Dan Gravelle, Rob Atkinson), 0:36. 1-0
2. K1, Ken Eddy #1 (Dean Sylvester), 14:59. 1-1
SECOND PERIOD
3. MC2, Matt Crowley #5 (Atkinson, Gravelle), 11:22. 2-1
4. MC3, Agostino Casale #13 (Mark Cornforth, Alex Weinrich), 12:20. PPG 3-1
5. K2, Sylvester #2 (Barry Cummins, Ross Antonini), 13:32. PPG 3-2
6. MC4, Crowley #6 (Atkinson), 14:12. 4-2
THIRD PERIOD
7. K3, Claude Morin #6 (unassisted), 5:10. 4-3
8. K4, Brian Mulcahy #2 (Gregg Fesette, Tim Evans), 6:39. 4-4
9. MC5, John Barron #3 (Cooper Naylor), 11:31. SHG GWG 5-4
SHOTS ON GOAL: Kent 13--7-13 = 33
Merrimack 10-18--8 = 36
GOALIES: Kent, Scott Shaw (0-4-0, 59:16, 36 shots-31 saves).
Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (46:39, 25 shots-21 saves),
Mike Doneghey (1-0-0, 13:21, 8 shots-8 saves).
POWER PLAYS: Kent 1 of 5, Merrimack 1 of 4.
PENALTIES: Kent 5/10, Merrimack 5/13.
REFEREE: Bob Fowkes. LINESMEN: Paul Scleparis, Dennis Hughes.
ATTENDANCE: 849 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. Rob Atkinson, Merrimack (0-3--3).
2. Matt Crowley, Merrimack (2-0--2).
3. Dean Sylvester, Kent (1-1--2).
at MERRIMACK 5, KENT 4
Rob Atkinson had three assists and Matt Crowley scored two goals to lead
Merrimack to the win, giving the Warriors a 5-1 nonconference record.
John Barron scored the game-winner on a shorthanded goal with 8:29 left
in the game. Freshman first-line right wing Dean Sylvester, from Boston
College High School in Mass., played a great all-around game for Kent
to help the Golden Flashes stay close so they could come back and tie
the game in the third before Barron's winner.
Jim Love told me that in preparation for Kent's transition into a full
DivI schedule and the CCHA next year, head coach Bill Switaj (a BC grad)
enlisted the help of legendary former UNH coach Charlie Holt during the
offseason - and the effects are clear. I've seen Kent at least once
during each of the past two seasons, and this year they are playing a true
DivI style. Their offense is a little weak, but they are missing last
year's leading scorer, Sam Thornbury, who is out indefinitely with a
shoulder injury. The team is still becoming more experienced and has
only two seniors, but they have a solid core and are playing well; all
of their six losses are by three goals or fewer.
Merrimack jumped on top just 36 seconds into the game when Jeff Massey
followed up Dan Gravelle's shot that rang the right post, but Kent goalie
Scott Shaw was to have a good game and helped keep the game close,
including stoning Casale twice. Kent tied it up at 14:59 when Ken Eddy
beat Steve D'Amore from point blank range. Kent was to have a man
advantage for almost all of the last 5 minutes of the period when Claude
Maillet drew a major for whacking Tim Evans in the head with his stick,
but the Golden Flashes managed only one shot from in tight. Most shots
came from the blue line and were blocked.
A blatant mistake by the linesmen cost Casale a chance at a goal nine
minutes into the second period. Maillet, #4, was coming out of the box
and started to return to his own zone as the rules require. At the same
time, Casale, #14, came on for his man during a line change and took a
pass at center ice all alone. The linesman blew the play dead, apparently
believing Casale was the one out of the box. Merrimack protested
vehemently but all they could do was to get the faceoff moved to center
ice because of the officials' mistake. Hey, nobody's perfect.
Only two minutes afterwards, Crowley put the Warriors ahead 2-1 on a play
that was begun by Atkinson. 58 seconds later, Casale added a power play
goal on his shot from the middle of the right circle to make it 3-1. 1:12
later, Kent came within one with a PPG of its own when Sylvester knocked
in a rebound of Ross Antonini's shot from the low slot. But the Warriors
avoided their second-period woes when Atkinson sent Crowley in for his
second of the night at 14:12. Atkinson had set up three of the Warriors'
four goals and was having a brilliant all-around game.
The game seemed to be in Merrimack's control into the third until a fluke
goal made the game interesting again. Kent's leading scorer, Claude Morin,
skated to center ice and fired a shot at D'Amore in a dump-in attempt.
D'Amore stopped the shot with his waffle and tried to cover it with his
glove, but the puck squirted up in the air. D'Amore looked around for
it, but he couldn't catch sight of it until it had landed on the ice and
rolled into the net. Just 1:29 later, at 6:39, Kent tied it at 4-4 off
a draw to D'Amore's left. Brian Mulcahy won the draw and went to the net.
Tim Evans pushed the puck back to the right point where Gregg Fesette let
a shot go, and Mulcahy put in the rebound.
At this point, Merrimack coach Ron Anderson decided to get out the hook
and brought in dufflebag Mike Doneghey. I'm not sure whether he made the
move to inspire his team (which has lost games after surrendering leads
like this before) or because he was unhappy with D'Amore letting in the
previous goal - maybe a little of both - but Doneghey played well the
remainder of the game to earn his first win, allowing no goals and
stopping eight shots. The winner came with Kent on a power play at 11:31.
Cooper Naylor, who was one of the best players on the ice tonight,
kncoked the puck away from the pointman and rushed up the left side. He
slid it over to Barron, who flipped it by Shaw for the game's final goal
and the game-winner.
EPILOGUE
Kent next plays at UMass-Lowell Saturday night, while Merrimack will
play at Providence on NESN Sunday night and then hosts seven straight
games, five before the final exam break. This is Kent's 2nd of four
trips to the East this season. Kent will play a total of six games
against five Hockey East teams; left to go after this weekend are BC
and Providence Jan 31-Feb 1. Kent's last trip to the East will be
Feb 28-29 at Army. It is the most difficult schedule the Golden Flashes
have played yet, with 26 of 31 games coming against DivI teams and
8 coming against teams that Kent will face in the CCHA next season.
It's been interesting to see Kent's progression over the past few years
since the unfortunate hazing incident that forced the suspension of their
program in 1988-89; I only mention it to say that Coach Bill Switaj
deserves an immense amount of credit for the way he has developed his team
in a short length of time and earned it enough respect to be accepted
into the CCHA. As a fan of college hockey in general, I like to see things
like this happen and I'm sure it will only get better for Kent.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]
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