Friday, January 27, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
NONCONFERENCE GAME
Air Force Falcons (8-15-1) 0 1 1 - 2
Merrimack Warriors (10-12-4) 2 2 2 - 6
FIRST PERIOD MC-AF
1. MC1, Gaetan Poirier 7 (Daryl Krauss, Claudio Peca), 5:41. 1-0
2. MC2, Jim Sapienza 1 (Karl Infanger, Eric Weichselbaumer), 8:17. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. AF1, Erik Brown 2 (unassisted), 2:44. 2-1
4. MC3, Matt Adams 14 (unassisted), 7:20. GWG 3-1
5. MC4, Casey Kesselring 13 (Rob Beck, Adams), 18:49. 4-1
THIRD PERIOD
6. MC5, Martin Laroche 6 (Tom Johnson), 6:54. 5-1
7. AF2, Andy Veneri 10 (Stephen Maturo, Erik Oberg), 10:36. 5-2
8. MC6, Beck 11 (Kesselring, Adams), 11:01. 6-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: Air Force 8--8--7 = 23
Merrimack 18--8-12 = 38
SAVES: AF, Pat Kielb (L, 6-13-1, 60:00, 38 sh-32 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (W, 6-11-3, 60:00, 23 sh-21 sv).
POWER PLAYS: AF 0 for 5. MC 0 for 3.
PENALTIES: AF 7/14. MC 8/16.
REFEREES: Frank Cole, Dennis Hughes. LINESMAN: Chuck Wynters.
ATTENDANCE: 916 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (1-2--3, GWG).
2. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (23 sh-21 sv).
3. LW Jim Sapienza, Merrimack (1-0--1).
Senior right wing Matt Adams' goal and two assists led the way, as
six different Warriors scored and goalie Martin Legault stopped 21 of
23 shots in Merrimack's 6-2 nonconference win over Air Force.
The win was Merrimack's third straight, all nonconference, as the
Warriors ran their record to 9-4-3 since a 1-8-1 start. Merrimack
has allowed 2 goals or less in 3 straight games, and 3 goals or less
in 15 of their 26 games to date. Their record in those 15 games is
10-2-3.
Air Force goals were scored by seniors Erik Brown and Andy Veneri,
both New England natives. Air Force iced 10 New Englanders among
their 18 skaters. For the Falcons, the loss was their fourth straight,
and they fall to 3-14-1 in DivI games this season with three remaining -
tomorrow night's rematch with Merrimack, and a mid-February series
with Army.
Merrimack thoroughly controlled the game from start to finish,
outscoring the Falcons in each period and outshooting them in the
first and third, with second period shots being even. Defensively,
Merrimack was again superb as the smaller Air Force forwards had
trouble penetrating the slot area to get off quality shots.
FIRST
Freshman Gaetan Poirier got the Warriors on the board 5:41 in when
he scored off a rebound for his 7th goal of the year. Fellow rookie
Jim Sapienza, a fourth-liner, scored his first collegiate goal less
than three minutes later, and Merrimack took a 2-0 lead.
Merrimack's size allowed them to break up plays on the defensive
end while the forwards did a good job of controlling the puck along
the boards in the Air Force zone, and Air Force was not able to get
much going in the first. The best chance came from Joe Javorski,
who had a shot from the high slot stopped by Legault.
Later in the period, AF's Beau Bilek appeared to have been hurt when
he tried to put a check on Poirier deep in the AF end along the
boards, but at the last second, Poirier avoided the hit and came away
with the puck while Bilek crashed into the end boards and was down
for a few minutes. But after being attended to by the trainer,
Bilek got up and skated off under his own power, and he returned to
play well the rest of the way.
SECOND
After being outplayed in the first, Air Force rebounded to play much
better in the second, and they carried the play through the first
half of the period. The fourth line's hard work paid off with a fluke
goal that nonetheless got them within one at 2:44. Brown's centering
pass deflected in off Legault for an unassisted goal that cut the
lead to 2-1.
Air Force would outshoot Merrimack 5-1 through the opening ten minutes,
as they effectively bottled up Merrimack through the neutral zone and
allowed very few end to end plays unlike the first period. But
unfortunately for the Falcons, that one shot allowed turned out to be
a goal, and a costly one. Off a miscue at center ice, Adams picked
up the loose puck and skated in alone in goaltender Pat Kielb, then
deked and beat him through the pads for his 14th of the year, an
unassisted goal that made it 3-1 and would become the game-winner.
With the way Merrimack was playing solid defense, Air Force could not
allow mistakes like this to happen, and the goal seemed to take some
of the wind out of their sails. Merrimack picked up momentum with
the goal and turned the tables to carry play the rest of the period
and the game.
But it was still a two-goal game until freshman sensation Casey
Kesselring, last week's Hockey East Rookie of the Week, scored his
13th of the year with 1:11 left in the period. Linemates Adams and
Rob Beck were working the puck along the boards behind Kielb, and Adams
found Kesselring alone in front for the goal that made it 4-1 Merrimack
after two.
Earlier in the period, while shorthanded, the Falcons had a golden
opportunity when Rocky Northon showed some nice moves in getting
around Karl Infanger, but then he shot the puck over the net while
off balance. Merrimack came right back with Tom Johnson feeding
Martin Laroche for a bid, but Kielb made the save.
Then during 4x4 play, both teams had good chances, but Kielb made
a nice rebound save off Claudio Peca. Bilek had a shot stopped by
Legault and then Dan McAlister found himself alone with the rebound
in front, but he shot it wide from about ten feet out.
THIRD
Leading by 3, Merrimack came out and paid attention to things in
their own end, effectively stopping an Air Force power play when
a goal could have gotten the Falcons right back in it. Right after
the man down situation ended, Laroche took the puck from Johnson
and went end to end, stuffing it past Kielb to make it 5-1 at 6:54.
AF got that one back at 10:36 when Erik Oberg carried up the left side
into neutral ice and fed Stephen Maturo, who moved it into the zone and
put a shot on Legault. In the ensuing scramble, Andy Veneri moved in
and buried the puck for his 10th of the year to make it 5-2.
25 seconds later, Merrimack closed the scoring on a goal off the draw
deep in the zone. Kesselring won the faceoff to Adams for a quick shot
that Kielb stopped, but Beck was there to deposit the rebound, his
11th of the year.
POSTGAME
Several big mistakes and an inability to cover rebounds in front did
the Falcons in tonight. They certainly had trouble dealing with the
big defense of Merrimack, which did not allow them much in the way of
opportunities. There were a number of junctures in the game where
AF could have gotten back in it with a goal, but they weren't able to
catch the D out of position for rebound shots. Credit the Warrior
defense for another fine game played, as well as Legault for stopping
the first shots.
Some of the more impressive players for Air Force were Veneri,
McAlister, and Bilek. Leading scorer Mark DeGeronimo (12-13--25),
from nearby Billerica, MA, had his family and friends out in force
but was unusually quiet with only one shot attempted, and that was
blocked. His line was shut down well, and for AF to have a chance
tomorrow night, that will have to change.
Bilek impressed me with the way he anchors the defense and was more
than willing to go end to end and create chances deep in the zone.
For Merrimack, besides the defense, it is a nice sign that four
different freshmen scored four of the six goals. Kesselring (13-14--27)
ran his multiple-point game streak to three, and along with Adams
(14-16--30) and Beck (11-12--23), his line was very effective from the
second period on. This line is the key to Merrimack's offensive hopes
with the players ranking 1-2-3 in team scoring, and they have come
on in the last three games to lead the output.
This was only the second time in 26 games that Merrimack has scored
six or more goals in a game, the other time being in a 6-6 tie early
in the season against Providence.
A negative is that a couple of times, players retaliated for hits
after the whistle to result in matching penalties when if they had
walked away, only a single penalty would have been called against
the Falcons. Those are situations when you have to take it for the
team and just leave it alone. But overall, except for a few minor
skirmishes in the second, it was a relatively clean game.
Legault played well again in net and earned a star, as he stayed on
his angle and thwarted all but one of the best chances Air Force
had. Legault ranked 5th in the nation in save percentage (.899) as
of January 22nd. However, it is likely that Eric Thibeault (4-1-1,
3.55) will get the nod tomorrow night, as his strong play has earned
himself a spot in the rotation of late. Thibeault is 4-0-1 in his last
five starts after an early-season loss at Dalhousie.
With the win, Merrimack coach Ron Anderson (215-179-15) comes within
3 of tying legendary coach J. Thom Lawler (218-138-10) for the lead
in all-time Merrimack coaching victories. Lawler unexpectedly passed
away in 1978 just months after leading the Warriors to their first
and only NC$$ title, in Division II. He is the only person to have
had his number retired by the Merrimack hockey program, and number
1 hangs at the far end of the rink in his memory (although it has
been worn since then by several netminders, most recently sophomore
Thibeault).
NEXT
Air Force and Merrimack conclude their weekend set Saturday night
at 7 pm at the Volpe Center. Air Force will try to break its four
game losing streak, while Merrimack will try for its fourth win in
a row.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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