Thanks to Ron for posting the box of Merrimack's 4-3 win at Providence.
Merrimack picked up 8 of 10 points on the weekend, enough to move the
Warriors into a tie for third place after their first weekend of HE
play. The win at PC broke a 12-game winless streak for the Warriors
dating back to last season. Merrimack is now 1-4-1 overall, 1-2-1 in
DivI games - but 1-0-1 in HE.
A very encouraging sign this weekend was the play of the freshmen.
Center Martin Laroche got into the scoring column in a big way with
his first two collegiate goals at PC, which gained him the number one
star of the game.
The most impressive player this weekend was certainly freshman center
Casey Kesselring. The 6-0/185 pounder picked up a goal and two
assists in the 6-6 tie Friday night, and he added the game winning
goal halfway through the third on Saturday.
Kesselring centers the first line with seniors Matt Adams and Mark
Goble as wings, and this has suddenly become a very potent combination
for Merrimack. On the weekend, Adams tallied 1-4--5, and Goble had
the hat trick Friday and added an assist on Kesselring's winner Saturday.
With injured D Tom Costa out this weekend (he should return to
practice this week and play against UNH), two little-used Ds were
pressed into service, and both played well. Freshman Chris Silvestro
was paired with junior transfer Alex MacLellan, and Silvestro picked
up an assist Saturday.
After scoring 5 PPGs Friday, the power play was held in check by PC in
the rematch, going 0 for 8. Merrimack also needs work on the
shorthand, killing only 11 of 18 Friar PPs on the weekend. But on the
flip side, the Warriors allowed only two even strength goals this
weekend, one each night.
G Martin Legault had a solid weekend, making 24 saves Friday and 28
Saturday. He was named second star of the 4-3 win but probably should
have been first star; with the game tied 1-1 in the second, he came up
big several times to keep it tied. Merrimack then got two goals in 27
seconds halfway through the period to go ahead. He again played well
in the third after Kesselring's goal put MC ahead to stay. But he
also got some help from the goaltender's best friend. With PC on a
power play in the final minutes, Friar Justin Gould hit the post on a
shot from the blue line that would have tied it.
Even though Merrimack earned a win and a shootout win on the weekend,
these were two games that could have easily gone the other way. The
teams seem pretty evenly matched, with PC having better guns up front
in Quenneville and Kramer and Merrimack having better goaltending in
Legault.
Both teams also worked hard this weekend which was nice to see. Paul
Pooley has PC giving virtually a 60 minute effort. When you are at
home and score two PPGs while holding the opponents' PP scoreless,
you're usually going to win. But a couple of minor defensive lapses
led to Merrimack goals, and Legault was also a key.
PC lacks a defenseman who can move the puck up ice and control the
play. Scott Balboni appears to be the closest thing to this, and he
came up with the big tying PPG in the third Saturday. PC can skate,
and if the Ds get into the play a little more, they should be all
right.
I also thought that PC's Joe Hulbig looked better than he did either
of his first two years. He's been kind of a disappointment thus far,
but it's hard to live up to the billing he had coming in. He seems to
have settled into a solid role on the second line, playing with a guy
I think is very underrated in Stefan Brannare, and this should be his
best season yet. Hulbig's goal late in the second period enabled PC
to go into the locker room down only one and set the stage for what
was nearly a comeback win in the third.
Merrimack next travels to Manchester, NH, this coming Friday night to
take on UNH in a game that will be shown live on NESN. This will be
UNH's first game this season in Manchester, which I think is an
advantage for Merrimack. It will be the first game in that rink for
both teams, so that takes away some of the home ice advantage for the
Wildcats. The teams will meet again Saturday night at Merrimack.
Providence has a home and home on tap with Lowell, and Saturday's game
at Lowell will be shown live on WNDS-50. PC will have to find a way
to stop Bullock, no question about it.
The next three games are big ones for Merrimack, as the Warriors
immediately follow up their set with UNH by hosting Lowell Tuesday
11/15 in a WNDS-50 tv game. Those 3 games in 5 nights could go a long
way towards turning around the 0-4 start Merrimack had and
establishing them as either a home ice contender or as a member of the
second division.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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