Saturday, January 28, 1995 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
NONCONFERENCE GAME
Air Force Falcons (8-16-1) 2 0 3 - 5
Merrimack Warriors (11-12-4) 0 4 2 - 6
FIRST PERIOD MC-AF
1. AF1, Stephen Maturo 5 (Patrick Ryan, Dan Leone), 3:14. 4x4 0-1
2. AF2, Dan McAlister 10 (Ryan, Leone), 19:04. 5x3 0-2
SECOND PERIOD
3. MC1, Mark Cornforth 7 (Jim Sapienza, Eric Weichselbaumer), 3:51. 1-2
4. MC2, Matt Adams 15 (Casey Kesselring, Rob Beck), 9:22. 2-2
5. MC3, John Jakopin 3 (Tom Costa, Eric Thibeault), 15:20. 3-2
6. MC4, Adams 16 (Beck), 18:10. 4-2
THIRD PERIOD
7. AF3, Mark DeGironimo 13 (unassisted), 0:37. 4-3
8. MC5, Adams 17 (Kesselring, Beck), 7:46. PPG 5-3
9. MC6, Daryl Krauss 5 (Martin Laroche), 9:09. GWG 6-3
10. AF4, John Decker 10 (Joe Javorski, Justin Scott), 9:32. 6-4
11. AF5, Decker 11 (Scott, Andy Veneri), 19:57. 6-5
SHOTS ON GOAL: Air Force 21--7-22 = 50
Merrimack 8-20-10 = 38
SAVES: AF, Pat Kielb (L, 6-14-1, 59:10, 38 sh-32 sv).
MC, Eric Thibeault (W, 5-1-1, 60:00, 50 sh-45 sv).
POWER PLAYS: AF 1 for 7. MC 1 for 7.
PENALTIES: AF 11/22. MC 11/22.
REFEREES: Jim Villandry, Mike Tuell. LINESMAN: Steve Arnold.
ATTENDANCE: 944 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (3-0--3, PPG).
2. LW Rob Beck, Merrimack (0-3--3).
3. C John Decker, Air Force (2-0--2).
Matt Adams led a second period comeback for Merrimack as he scored two
goals and added another for the hat trick in the third to help the
Warriors erase a 2-0 deficit after one and go on to a 6-5 win over
Air Force.
Adams finished with six points on the weekend (4-2--6) and in recording
his second trick of the season, he raised his team-leading totals to
17-16--33, possibly enough to get him into the top five in HE. Casey
Kesselring's two assists give him 13-16--29, believed to be the lead
among HE freshmen overall. Beck picked up assists on all three of Adams'
goals, giving him 11-15--26.
Unlike the night before, this was a strange game of ebb and flow, with
Air Force dominating the first and third and Merrimack carrying the second.
But Merrimack's four second period goals combined with a pair of tallies
in the third proved to be barely enough.
After Merrimack had scored twice in the third to go up 6-3, AF's John
Decker would add a pair of goals, the second with the goalie pulled to
bring the Falcons within one (6-5) at 19:57. Off the ensuing faceoff,
Merrimack goalie Eric Thibeault had to make a save off Beau Bilek at the
buzzer to preserve the win. Decker's two goals equaled his high
goal scoring and point scoring output of the season.
It was an entertaining game that saw both teams play well at times
and get good play from their top forwards. Neither goaltender shone,
but as it was a much more wide open game than the night before, both
goalies still had to make a number of big saves to keep it close.
The win was Merrimack's fourth straight, and the Warriors are now
11-4-3 in their last 18, 6-1-1 in their last 8. The result was
unusual in that it was the first time Merrimack had won while
surrendering four or more goals (1-10-1) and the first win in a
game in which MC trailed after one (1-8-1).
After opening their season 0-4-0 in nonconference play, Merrimack has
rebounded to go 7-1-0 (loss to RPI) and post its sixth straight winning
NC record, 7-5-0. Against DivI NC foes, the Warriors finished 6-3-0.
Merrimack head coach Ron Anderson posted his 216th win, bringing him
within two of tying J. Thom Lawler for the all-time school record.
Air Force fell to 3-15-1 in DivI action, with two DivI games remaining
against arch-rival Army. The Falcons' loss was their fifth straight,
all against DivI teams - two by one-goal margins.
FIRST
Air Force came out looking like a different team from Friday night,
mainly because of their increased desire and effort. They would
consistently beat Merrimack to loose pucks and create chances in front
of Thibeault, racking up 21 shots on goal in the period.
After Merrimack D Steve McKenna had his rush bid turned aside by Pat
Kielb, much of the rest of the period belonged to AF. On a 4x4, the
Falcons got on the board first at 3:14 when Stephen Maturo followed
up a shot by Patrick Ryan and scored on the rebound.
The score remained 1-0 despite AF's carrying of the play, as Thibeault
was forced to make several nice saves including a glove stop off a
shot through traffic by Bilek. During another 4x4, David Michaud seemed
to be seriously hurt as he tried to convert a 2x1 but missed the pass
and slid into the boards behind the net. He was attended to and helped
off the ice where he went to the locker room. However, he did return
to play the second and third periods, if I remember correctly.
The Warriors took two bad penalties during the period that hurt their
cause. One came while MC was on the power play and Kesselring went
off for slashing to even it up. Another came late in the period as
Mark Cornforth was called for tripping in front of the net while AF
was already up a man.
In stark contrast to Friday, AF moved the puck well on the power play,
and this carried over into the 5x3 that resulted from Cornforth's
penalty. With 56 seconds left in the period and 6 seconds left on the
5x3, Air Force took a 2-0 lead when Dan McAlister easily followed up
the rebound of a shot from the point by Ryan.
AF's power play was helped immeasurably by the fact that Decker and
McAlister consistently won faceoffs to allow the Falcons to start off
with the puck. It seemed that Merrimack could not win a single
shorthanded faceoff in the first period.
SECOND
The Warriors had to feel lucky that they trailed only by 2 after the
first. But they came out and quickly turned the tables. Tom Johnson's
shot barely deflected off Kielb's glove and hit the crossbar, and then
Dan Hodge rifled one that Kielb made a nifty glove save on.
Merrimack dominated the second period from start to finish in the same
way that Air Force carried the first. But it was the fourth line that
got the Warriors on the board at 3:51. Jim Sapienza fed Cornforth, who
was pinching in, and Cornforth took the puck untouched to the front
of the net, patiently waited until Kielb went down, and flipped it over
him for his 7th goal.
Adams tied it at 9:22 as Beck and Kesselring carried the play up the
right side and Kesselring found Adams in front for the goal. Soon
afterwards, the line clicked again as Beck fed Adams at center ice,
and the speedy winger blew by two defenders to create a breakaway.
Kielb stopped him on that attempt, however, as well as on another just
seconds later when Beck collected the puck and found his linemate
again for a point blank shot.
Air Force began to pick it up a bit with about 6 minutes left on
the strength of a great shift by the fourth line of Brown-Northon-DesRoche,
but Merrimack quickly got the momentum back when D John Jakopin got
the puck from Tom Costa at center ice, skated to the top of the circle
and blasted it past Kielb. Goalie Eric Thibeault also picked up an
assist on the play.
A 4x4 soon afterwards looked like a Warrior power play with the home
team keeping the puck in the zone and taking shot after shot. Claudio
Peca stole the puck from Ryan as the Falcon D tried to clear it, and he
walked in to fire a shot the Kielb made a nifty save on.
But after the 4x4 expired, Adams picked up his second goal when Beck
carried behind the net and found him camped on the short side for an
easy goal to make it 4-2. Merrimack's speed showed in this period,
as they were able to get guys parked in front for shots before AF could
get back to cover them.
After being outshot 21-8 in the first, Merrimack took a 20-7 advantage
in the second. It was beginning to look as if the ice was tilted.
THIRD
Leading 4-2, Merrimack seemed to be in good shape to go on to the
win, but Air Force played a strong third and had the Warriors running.
The comeback began just 37 seconds in on a play Adams was relieved
did not come back to haunt him. He had the puck on the right boards
in the defensive zone, and with Merrimack beginning a breakout, he
inexplicably released a weak pass right across the top of the slot.
AF's Mark DeGironimo was right there forechecking - Air Force's leading
goal scorer, the last Falcon you want to give a free shot to. DeGironimo
checked his calendar, made sure it wasn't Christmas, and easily
beat a flabbergasted Thibeault to make it 4-3.
DeGironimo is from nearby Billerica, MA, and had a large following in
the stands, so it was nice to see him give them something to cheer
about.
But Adams would atone for that blunder by scoring a nifty power play
goal to regain the two goal lead at 7:46. The power play resulted
from a too many men penalty called against the Falcons at the tail
end of a power play. On a change, a Falcon on the far side passed
the puck across the ice towards the boards, where it was picked up
by the guy coming on. At that instant, Air Force had six guys more
than five feet from the boards, with the sixth guy intentionally
playing the puck. It was easy to see from the press box across the
ice, but coach Chuck Delich argued the call anyway. I suspect that
by that time, he was already fed up with what was a below-par job
done by the two rookie referees in this game, but in this case, it
was certainly an obvious and correct call.
The MC power play finally clicked this time, as Kesselring contained
the puck along the boards and then threaded the needle to Adams alone
on the opposite side of Kielb, and the senior slammed it home for
his third of the night and a 5-3 lead.
Less than a minute and a half later, Daryl Krauss scored the eventual
winner off the draw when he took a feed from Martin Laroche and beat
Kielb on a 20 footer to make it 6-3. It seemed over at that point,
but despite the two goals, Air Force was having most of the better
of the play, and they would pull out all stops in the last ten minutes
to come within a whisker of forcing OT.
It began 23 seconds after Krauss's goal, when Joe Javorski fed Decker
for a goal off a point blank shot in front. That made it 6-4. On
a 4x4 situation, Air Force had good chances, including a McAlister
pass to Veneri in front which was shot wide.
Adams, who should have drawn more attention earlier when he was
scoring his trick, began to finally get noticed when he drew an
interference penalty to Maturo on a dive that was worthy of an Oscar.
Maturo protested vehemently, to no avail. But Air Force didn't let it
stop them, as right off the draw, Bilek took off on one of his patented
end to end rushes and hit the pipe.
Adams would then get checked into the AF bench and took the opportunity
to give some of the Falcons an Andover welcome, popping a few of them
while he was there - unnoticed by the officials. Probably because of
this and the dive, he was followed closely the rest of the game. With
about two minutes left, he took a vicious slash on the wrist and
skated off, though I think he did return before the game ended. On
the one hand, Adams' intensity (when it is there) occasionally reminds
one of former Warrior Teal Fowler, and Teal's intensity is something
this Warrior team could use. But Adams also has to start scoring the
big goals that Fowler scored. He's done this over the last couple of
weeks, so maybe this signals a strong desire of his to have a good
stretch drive in his last season.
With 5:46 left, offsetting minors to Beck and Ryan along with another
minor to Beck resulted in the incorrect situation that I mentioned in
another post. Referees Tuell and Villandry mistakenly put all of the
penalties on the board, instead of just the extra minor to Beck. That
gave us 2:00 of 4x4 and then 2:00 of 5x4 for AF, instead of just 2:00
of 5x4. But Air Force took advantage of the open ice to pour a few
more shots on Thibeault, who would see almost as many shots tonight
as he saw against BU. Merrimack successfully killed the power play,
setting up an exciting final two minutes with the visitors down by two
and closing fast.
Kielb was pulled for an extra attacker with 50 seconds left, and the
Falcons would keep the puck in the Merrimack zone the rest of the way,
finally scoring with 3 seconds left when Decker deposited the rebound
of Justin Scott's shot from the point. That made it 6-5, but there
was not enough time left to get another chance - or was there? Decker
won the center ice draw to Bilek, who quickly skated to just outside
the blue line and rifled the puck on net, forcing Thibeault to hold
his ground and make the final save at the buzzer.
POSTGAME
An entertaining game, one where both coaches can be happy with some
aspects of their teams' play and disappointed in others.
Chuck Delich did a superb job of getting his team to adjust to the
defensive pressure they faced Friday, and they showed a lot more
hustle and playmaking than they did the first game. Air Force moved
the puck well in the first and third, finding the open man or getting
inside for rebounds. The power play was much better, and guys like
Decker and McAlister were impressive with the way they won draw
after draw.
But leading 2-0 after one, AF had a chance to put it away if they
could come out and get a goal or two in the second. Merrimack turned
it up a notch or two in that period, and Air Force could not keep
up with them. The Falcons also seemed to have lost some of the drive
they displayed in the first - I had commented to a local writer that I
was impressed with their first period intensity but I didn't think
they could keep it up for three periods, and that turned out to be true.
If this team plays three solid periods, they seem to have enough that
they can beat anyone or at least be in it. Tonight they played two,
but it wasn't enough.
Air Force may not be as talented as many other teams, but this is
certainly one of the better AF teams I have seen. They have some guys
whose determination and hard work would be an asset to any team -
Decker, Veneri, Bilek, McAlister, and DeGironimo to name a few.
DeGironimo was a guy I was watching closely because of his numbers and
local ties, and while he did not distinguish himself in the first five
periods of the series, he played a remarkable third tonight to help
his team fight back.
Ron Anderson has to be pleased with the way Merrimack held off a
ferocious ice assault to escape with the win, but the team defense
was not as sharp as Friday night. Thibeault faced more than twice
as many shots as Legault did, many from point blank range, and although
IMO he played about as well as Legault did, that they allowed three more
goals is a testament to the fact that the defense needs to come to play
every night. The offense won't always be there as it was this weekend,
but if the D can be counted on, then they'll still have a chance in every
game. And that is the key to their success, if they are to have any in
the remaining 9 HE games.
The BKA line of Beck-Kesselring-Adams won the game for Merrimack again,
but like Friday, they didn't show up until the second period, at which
point they suddenly picked it up and dominated most shifts on which they
appeared. I wondered if they should just come to the rink an hour after
everyone else and join the team for the start of the second. :-) In four
periods this weekend (the 2nd and 3rd of both games), they recorded six
goals and nine assists for 15 points - not bad! If they are able to
generate even a fraction of that output the rest of the way, Merrimack
still has a good chance to remain in the hunt for home ice or at least
5th place, which would be their highest finish ever.
NEXT
Air Force returns home for a pair of games against DivIII St John's (MN)
of the MIAC, Friday and Saturday at 7 pm Mountain time. The Falcons
follow that up with weekend sets at Mankato, home vs Army, and home
vs Mankato to close the season. At 8-16-1, AF will need to win all 8
to finish .500 - certainly possible.
Merrimack returns to HE play after what will have been almost a three
week layoff. They find themselves in 7th place at 4-7-4 (3), four
points behind 6th place Boston College, which has played 2 extra games,
and four points ahead of 8th place Providence, which has played one
extra game. The Warriors still have all three meetings left with BC.
But the Road to the Garden (last season we can say that) begins Friday
night when Merrimack travels to Northeastern to face the suddenly
terrifying Huskies, who outscored Lowell 14-1 in two games this past
weekend. In November, Northeastern scored a 4-2 win on the strength
of special teams and won a 2-2 shootout the next night at MC. But it
is not enough to just play well against the top teams in the league
anymore. For Merrimack to make a move, they need to beat these teams,
and an immediate concern will be the fact that in confronting Northeastern,
MC will be hurled into the fire against a club that is much better
than the teams they've dueled with during their two-week nonconference
sojourn.
The next evening, the Warriors will travel down I-95 to Providence
to face the Friars, who have the unlucky task of hosting Maine
Friday night. Early in November, Merrimack won a home 6-6 shootout
and then posted a 4-3 win in Schneider Arena. Depending on how these
teams do the rest of the way, this game could very well help decide
who finishes as high as 5th or 6th - or who finishes 8th and gets to
host the play-in against upstart Mass Amherst.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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