In Thursday's second semifinal game, the BU Terriers rode a strong
first period showing to defeat the Minnesota Golden Gophers, 4-1
before 16,000 partisans at the St. Paul Civic Center. BU advances to
the national championship game for the first time since 1991, the last
final four to be held in St. Paul, when the Terriers lost a classic
8-7 triple OT game to Northern Michigan. BU will battle 1992 national
champion Lake Superior St in the finals.
 
9:14 into the first period, BU's Mike Friedman intercepted a clearing pass
attempt and fed a nice pass to Bob Lachance who broke in all alone and beat
Minnesota goalie Jeff Callinan for a 1-0 Terrier lead. BU made it 2-0 a few
minutes later. A BU defenseman took a blast from the point which Callinan
stopped. The Gopher defender appeared to have Mike Pomichter tied up nicely,
at the doorstep, but Pomichter was still able to push the puck past Callinan,
who was slow getting back into position. Several minutes later, BU made it
3-0. Mike Brennan blasted a power play point shot which Callinan stopped
but BU's Thornton put the rebound past the Gopher goalie. BU outshot
Minnesota, 17-6 in the 1st period.
 
4:15 into the second, Minnesota had some good chances on an early power play
but couldn't solve JP McKersie. But fourth line center Bobby Dustin
put a blast from the slot past McKersie to get the Gophers and the
St Paul Civic Center crowd back into the game. Minnesota outshot the
Terriers, 15-5 in the period, including 11-0 at one point. The Gophers
totally dominated the first half of the period and outplayed BU in
the 2nd half as well. BU's defense seemed to shore up in the latter
10 minutes but their offense, so lethal and so accurate in their passing,
was having all kinds of problems getting on track. As color man Bob Norton
noted before the 2nd frame started, BU had trouble putting people away
this year. They've totally dominated 1st periods but had trouble in
2nd periods.
 
The third period was defined by a lot of up and down action. Not many
shots on goal. With about 6 or so minutes left in the game, BU's
Jacques Joubert broke in 2-on-2 with another Terrier. He was taken out
of the play by a Gopher D but was able to drop the puck to a streaking
Mike Pomichter who deked Callinan and slipped the puck past the Minnesota
goalie for a 4-1 lead and the final margin of victory.
 
RANDOM THOUGHTS
One of the best things about Prime's coverage was that you could hear
the bands playing in the background. I thought that added a lot to
the atmosphere (however unintentional it may have been)... Why couldn't
ESPN cover the semis or even the regionals? I mean, if nothing else,
the 2nd games of the regionals on Saturday and Sunday would start shortly
after the 2nd basketball game ended. They could still get good ratings.
Perhaps they could put Sportscenter on right before the hockey game to
catch the fans switching over. There's no reason they couldn't cover the
semis, at least the 2nd game... What's the deal with the Gopher cheerleaders?
IMO, cheerleaders at a hockey game is a pretty lame idea. Cheerleaders for
football? Sure. For Basketball? Why not? But for hockey? No way. Hockey is
such an exciting sport that there's really no need for cheerleaders to get
the crowd into the game.
 
***************************************************************************
Bri Farenell                                     Clarkson '95
[log in to unmask]                 Glens Falls High '91
AHL and NCAA contact for rec.sport.hockey        Go Erin Whitten (GFH '89)!
Bri's (pre-tournament) Hoops Finals Pick: Arizona over Florida
Bri's (pre-tournament) Hockey Finals Pick: Lake Superior St. over BU
U OF A!   ARIZONA ALL THE WAY!   RIP THE RAZORBACKS!  (Aaron Ward sucks)