Friday, December 2, 1994 at Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (3-8-2, 2-4-2 1 HE t6th) 2 2 0 - 4
Mass Amherst Minutemen (0-9-1, 0-6-0 0 HE 9th) 0 1 2 - 3
FIRST PERIOD MC-MA
1. MC1, Matt Adams 6 (Casey Kesselring, Steve McKenna), 2:26. PPG 1-0
2. MC2, Tom Johnson 3 (Claudio Peca, Chris Silvestro), 14:25. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. MA1, Blair Wagar 3 (Warren Norris, Christopher Fawcett), 1:50. 2-1
4. MC3, Martin Laroche 4 (Johnson, Silvestro), 4:00. PPG 3-1
5. MC4, Adams 7 (Rob Beck, McKenna), 19:28. PPG GWG 4-1
THIRD PERIOD
6. MA2, Sal Manganaro 1 (Brad Norton), 7:26. PPG 4-2
7. MA3, Norris 4 (Manganaro, Rich Alger), 15:34. 4-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 16-15-16 = 47
Mass Amherst 11--9-17 = 37
SAVES: MC, Martin Legault (W, 2-7-2, 60:00, 37 sh-34 sv).
MA, Dave Kilduff (L, 0-5-0, 59:10, 47 sh-43 sv).
POWER PLAYS: MC 3 for 4. MA 1 for 4.
PENALTIES: MC 6/12. MA 6/12.
REFEREES: Drew Taylor, Scott Leavitt. LINESMAN: Bill Jones
ATTENDANCE: est. 1,000 (capacity 8,389).
THREE STARS: 1. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (2-0--2, GWG).
2. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (37 sh-34 sv).
3. RW Sal Manganaro, Mass Amherst (1-1--2).
Merrimack built a 4-1 lead after two on the strength of three power
play goals, two by Matt Adams, and weathered a strong comeback by the
host UMass-Amherst Minutemen in the third to escape with a 4-3 win in
Hockey East play.
The win was Merrimack's second straight overall and broke a 5 game
winless streak (0-4-1) in HE action. UMA, which still seeks its first
HE win, is 0-9-1 overall and 0-6-0 in HE.
The Warriors came out strong and dominated play for the first two
periods, firing 31 shots on Rich Kilduff and scoring 4 goals. The
difference in the game was power play, with Merrimack scoring on each
of its first three opportunities.
UMA fought back in the third to score twice and pull within a goal,
but a late penalty proved too difficult to overcome. However, Kilduff
was pulled in the final minute and UMA had several chances to tie,
with a shot going off of Legault's blocker with seconds left.
Merrimack scored twice in the first, with Adams getting the puck off
the boards and firing a shot from a bad angle that beat Kilduff to the
short side. Tom Johnson made it 2-0 by depositing the rebound of
Claudio Peca's shot as UMA was caught out of position.
The Minutemen got on the board early in the second when the Warriors
were unable to clear the zone, resulting in a goal by Blair Wagar
from the slot. But Merrimack bounced back to score twice more in the
period. Johnson collected the puck behind the net and fed Martin
Laroche in front for a tap in, and late in the period, Adams picked
up his second of the game (the eventual winner) on the power play.
Rob Beck kept the puck in with some nifty stickhandling and fed Steve
McKenna at the point, who found Adams down low for the goal.
Adams has now scored 5 goals in his last two games. His scoring output
will be desperately needed by a team that has had problems putting
enough goals on the board.
The third period saw UMA come out firing, with 17 shots on net to
MC's 16. Sal Manganaro scored the first ever power play goal in HE
by UMA when his shot from high in the slot went off of Legault's
glove and trickled into the net. It broke an 0 for 33 slump for
the Minuteman power play and made the score 4-2, keeping the fans on
the edge of their seats.
When a goal by Warren Norris with 4:26 left cut the lead to one, it
set up an exciting final few minutes, as the home crowd hoped to see
its team earn their first ever points in HE. Norris took a feed from
Manganaro and his slap shot went off Warrior D Tom Costa and into
the net.
But less than two minutes later, Adams' speed proved to be key as he
took a feed through center ice and nearly beat the defense before he
was hauled down by Brad Norton. That put UMA down a man at the same
time they were trying to tie it up, and even though they killed off
the power play, it left them with only 44 seconds to pull Kilduff
and try for the equalizer - too little too late.
COMMENTS
Merrimack had to feel lucky to escape with the win in a game that could
have gone the other way if it was five minutes longer. UMass-Amherst
played well, but the typical youthful mistakes (bad penalties, getting
caught out of position) cost them. It was encouraging to coach Joe
Mallen, as he said in the postgame press conference, to see how his
team played well in the third and they hope to build on that in the
second game of the series Saturday night.
UMA was without three players serving one game suspensions for their
parts in the brawl with BU two weeks ago: Gerry Cahill, Mike Evans,
and Rob Bonneau. All three will return Saturday, and Bonneau is the
team's leading scorer with 4-2--6.
But a key was the return tonight of junior forward Sal Manganaro, who
broke his kneecap on 10/22/94 at UMass-Lowell while sliding into the
goal post. His recovery turned out to be quicker than expected, and
his leadership and offensive ability keyed the comeback. UMA seems
to be a different team with him out there.
Merrimack had injured forwards Daryl Krauss, Mark Goble and Ryan
Mailhiot return tonight, although injured captain Mark Cornforth is
still out and watched from the stands. It was nice to hear that
Cornforth, who has performed well academically in accounting as well
as still leading the team in scoring despite being sidelined, has
received a job offer from one of the top firms in Boston (he will
graduate in May). He hopes to return for the Maine series.
The Warriors will need to regroup and play a strong 60 minutes
Saturday against a UMA team that didn't know when to quit tonight.
They will need to cut down on the shots allowed, although the
defense did do a good job of making sure Legault had to face no
rebound shots tonight. And with a total of 47 shots on net and only
one goal at even strength, Merrimack will need to start capitalizing
on the numerous good chances they had right in front.
UMA will continue to seek its first win of the year and in HE, and
from all indications, that win could come soon. But a start will
be matching the opponents on the special teams, as they were able to
outscore MC at even strength 2-1. Perhaps getting the power play
monkey off their back tonight will help. Joe Mallen has done a great
job bringing this team along, but there is no substitute for experience.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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