Lawrence (Mass.) Eagle-Tribune, Saturday, January 14, 1995
 
MERRIMACK SHOCKS BU
DETERMINED WARRIORS TOPPLE NATION'S 2ND-RANKED TEAM
by Bill Burt, Eagle-Tribune Writer
 
BOSTON - Merrimack College beat second-ranked Boston University last
night.
 
Grab the record book.
 
It was only the second time Merrimack has ever beaten BU, the first
time ever in Walter Brown Arena.
 
"I've had so many memorable losses against these guys," said Merrimack
captain Mark Cornforth, who scored the game-winner.  "It feels good to
finally stick it to them.  I remember coming here last year, losing
9-3.  This is nice."  [Guess Mark shut off his memory after it got to
be 9-3, since BU won 10-4. :-)  - mike]
 
Nice, but by no means easy.  The Warriors, now 4-6-4 in Hockey East,
had to overcome 11 BU power plays without a goal and 56 shots, including
22 shots to Merrimack's one in the third period.
 
Merrimack goalie Eric Thibeault, who is a backup to injured starter
Martin Legault (sore knees), knocked away a Hockey East record 54 saves.
 
"It was a self-fulfilling prophecy," said BU coach Jack Parker.  "Before
the game, I told Merrimack how hard they work, and that their goalie
stops everything.  That's exactly what happened."
 
Parker said his team wasn't ready to play, even despite BU's quick 1-0
lead only 5:33 into the game.
 
Merrimack took only 29 seconds to tie when Claudio Peca knocked in a
rebound of a Tom Johnson wrister.
 
Freshman sparkplug Gaetan Poirier made it 2-1 Merrimack, knocking in a
loose puck in the crease after a Mark Goble wrister.
 
The rest of the period was a mess with referees calling six penalties,
four on Merrimack.
 
"Don't be fooled by the shots (on goal)," said Parker.  "Thibeault either
saved it and tied it up or the defense cleared it.  There were a lot of
shots, but Merrimack's defense was outstanding and controlled the
rebounds."
 
BU changed goalies, putting in senior Derek Herlofsky in place of freshman
Tom Noble.
 
On the power play (Merrimack had only two for the game), Cornforth stunned
the 2,901 in attendance and BU's defense by taking the puck end to end on
the right side, before back handing a shot over the fallen Herlofsky at
4:32 of the period.
 
BU, thanks to three more consecutive power plays, dominated the next 12
minutes.  It finally scored, though, while shorthanded (only two seconds),
when Ken Rausch, on the left side, wristed a shot to the top left corner.
 
Merrimack entered the third period leading 3-2.  It was undefeated this
winter at 6-0-2 when leading after two periods while BU was 0-2-3 when
trailing.
 
Merrimack's objective was obvious: Preserve the win.
 
"We can't go out there and trade goals with a team as skilled as BU,"
said Anderson.  "So, yeah, we had to play a little conservative."
 
Conservative isn't a strong enough word.
 
BU peppered Thibeault 22 times in all with the help of two power plays.
Thibeault, named the game's first, second and third star, made three
great saves in one six-second stretch with just 4:00 remaining to foil
the mighty Terriers, now 5-3-3.
 
Merrimack plays host to UMass-Lowell, 5-4-1 in Hockey East, Sunday
night at 7 p.m. at the Volpe Complex.  Lowell pasted Army 7-3 last
night and is 10-9-3 overall.
 
"Every win in this league is big," said Anderson, a 1974 BU grad.  "But
this can only give us confidence."
END
 
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Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93