11/19/91 Hockey East Overall
GP W-L-T Pts GF-GA || GP W-L-T GF-GA
===============================================
1 UMass-Lowell 3 3-0-0 6 17-12 || 8 5-3-0 40-34
2 New Hampshire 2 2-0-0 4 11-8 || 7 7-0-0 42-18
Maine 3 2-1-0 4 16-6 || 5 4-1-0 25-12
Boston College 4 2-2-0 4 12-13 || 9 3-5-1 27-42
5 Boston University 2 1-1-0 2 6-12 || 6 5-1-0 25-22
Providence 2 1-1-0 2 12-8 || 8 5-3-0 41-26
7 Merrimack 3 0-3-0 0 8-13 || 8 4-4-0 48-35
Northeastern 3 0-3-0 0 6-16 || 7 3-4-0 25-34
UMass-Lowell moved into sole possession of first place with a 4-2 win
at Northeastern. At Boston College, the Eagles defeated Merrimack for
the second time this season, 5-3.
Tuesday, November 19, 1991 at Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (4-4-0, 0-3-0 HE) 2 1 0 - 3
Boston College Eagles (3-5-1, 2-2-0 HE) 1 2 2 - 5
FIRST PERIOD BC-MC
1. MC1, Agostino Casale #12 (Dan Gravelle), 3:19. 0-1
2. BC1, Ryan Haggerty #3 (Joe Cleary, John Joyce), 14:27. 1-1
3. MC2, Jeff Massey #1 (Gravelle, Mike Flaherty), 15:07. 1-2
SECOND PERIOD
4. BC2, Jack Callahan #4 (Cleary, Mike Spalla), 6:22. PPG 2-2
5. MC3, Massey #2 (Matt Adams, Cooper Naylor), 12:35. 2-3
6. BC3, Rob Canavan #1 (Spalla, Callahan), 19:09. 3-3
THIRD PERIOD
7. BC4, Callahan #5 (Cleary, Ian Moran), 5:24. PPG GWG 4-3
8. BC5, David Franzosa #6 (unassisted), 15:22. 5-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 7--6--7 = 20
Boston College 10--7-15 = 32
GOALIES: Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (3-4-0, 60:00, 32 shots-27 saves).
Boston College, Scott LaGrand (2-3-0, 60:00, 20 shots-17 saves).
POWER PLAYS: Merrimack 0 of 5, Boston College 2 of 6.
PENALTIES: Merrimack 6/12, Boston College 6/12.
REFEREE: Dan Raposa. LINESMEN: John Gravallese, Bob Fowkes.
ATTENDANCE: 3,556 (capacity 7,884).
THREE STARS: 1. Jack Callahan, Boston College (2-1--3).
2. Joe Cleary, Boston College (0-3--3).
3. Jeff Massey, Merrimack (2-0--2).
at BOSTON COLLEGE 5, MERRIMACK 3
BC bounced back from deficits of 2-1 and 3-2 to beat Merrimack on the
strength of two power play goals by Jack Callahan, who now has 4 PPGs in
his last two games. The Eagles effectively shut down Merrimack's top
line and held Merrimack under 20 shots for the second straight time.
The Warriors were missing freshman defenseman Mark Cornforth, out with
a groin injury, and they missed his size and consistency badly.
The first period was pretty evenly played with Merrimack jumping out to
a 2-1 lead. Agostino Casale notched his Division I-leading 12th goal
early on when Dan Gravelle carried up the left side and fed Casale in
front. BC tied it at 14:27 when John Joyce and Ryan Haggerty worked
the 2x2 perfectly. Joyce led Haggerty with a pass just ahead of him, and
Haggerty blew by the defenseman, walked in and beat Steve D'Amore. But
the Warriors went ahead again only 40 seconds later when Gravelle
centered the puck to Massey, who turned around and shot it through
LaGrand's pads. BC outattempted Merrimack, 25-13, but only led in shots
10-7.
As I've said before, the second period has been Merrimack's downfall, but
Merrimack stayed even for the period until surrendering YAFMG (Yet Another
Final Minute Goal). Callahan tied the game, 2-2, on the power play at
6:22. He got the puck alone in front and beat D'Amore with a backhander.
Casale almost rang up his 2nd of the night when he carried up the left
side, closely watched by a BC defender, and put on a nifty fake that drew
LaGrand out of the net. Casale had all of the net to shoot at, but being
a left shot he didn't have a very good angle and he shot the puck just wide
through the crease. He did draw a penalty on Ian Moran after the shot,
but Merrimack's usually potent power play couldn't capitalize. Merrimack
went 0-for-5 on the power play for the night and despite entering the
game clicking at 45.0%, the Warriors are now 1-for-11 in three league games.
Merrimack did regain the lead at 12:35 on a goal credited to Massey, his
second of the night. Massey wheeled out of the corner and fired a shot
that didn't get through, but it bounced off of linemates Matt Adams and
Cooper Naylor and came back to Massey, who shot it in. It looked like
Adams might have tipped it for his second goal of the year, but Massey
got the goal.
BC was slightly outplaying the Warriors, but the Eagles' offense just
isn't what it once was, and Merrimack was able to hold onto a 3-2 lead...
until the final minute. With 51 seconds left, the Eagles' pressure paid
off when Spalla and Callahan worked the puck out from behind the net and
found big Rob Canavan who beat D'Amore for his first collegiate goal,
and the teams went to the break tied at 3-3.
The third period was all BC, with the Eagles outshooting the Warriors
15-7 and scoring twice. Callahan notched his second PPG of the game and
5th goal and PPG of the year at 5:24 when he popped in the rebound of
Joe Cleary's shot past a fallen D'Amore. Down a goal, Merrimack tried
to muster some offense, to little avail. The backbreaker came with 4:38
left when Franzosa centered the puck from behind the net and it went in
off Gravelle for Franzosa's 6th goal. BC's David Buckley went to the
sin bin with 3:54 left, but the Warriors' power play could do nothing.
A note on the Merrimack power play. Last year, the Warriors had an awful
PP and Ron Anderson decided to revamp it for 1991-92. Now, when the puck
gets worked down low or behind the net, the defenseman closest to the
play floats down to about the middle of the circle, leaving only one D
at the middle of the blue line and creating a possible four-on-two if
the defending forwards hang too far out (known as the "Umbrella"). This
is definitely a reason for the high PP percentage thus far, because it's
been successful in nonleague games, but it hasn't worked well in league
games. It's also dangerous in terms of possible shorthanded goals, of
which Merrimack has surrendered 3 thus far (tying last year's total).
I should have prefaced this by saying "Coaches Schafer and Demment, don't
read this," as both their teams will visit Merrimack in the next two
weeks. :-)
EPILOGUE
From what I've seen of BC thus far, 2-2 in HE at this point has to be
a plus for them. The Eagles aren't getting the kind of scoring chances
they are used to, but they are taking advantage of them, and when a team
like Merrimack fails to play strong defense against BC, they aren't going
to have much of a chance because BC is playing very good in its own end.
I believe that offense comes from defense, and BC developed many of its
chances from quick turnaround play when its defense broke up plays at the
line. Weak defense by the Warriors was a big reason why the Eagles were
able to put four goals on the board (not counting the Franzosa goal). You
can also look at the 2-0 Eagle advantage in PPGs as being a key.
Merrimack still inexplicably fails to put together three solid periods
of play. It is a different situation from two years ago, when losses
were not taken too seriously because they were just unable to play with
many of the teams. All four losses are games Merrimack could have won,
but their record stands at .500 and 0-3 in HE. It is particularly
devastating that they dropped all of the first three HE games, and they
were all winnable. This is the difference between the "great" teams and
those who are middle-of-the-pack - they find a way to win those close
games that they have to win.
BTW, I don't argue with the idea that many of the impressive stats
Merrimack and individual players have racked up thus far are somewhat
inflated because they are playing one of the easiest nonleague schedules
in the country. Still, players like Casale and Gravelle are bonafide
players who would get their share of points anyway. However, good defensive
teams like BC are clearly entering games knowing that these are the guys
they have to shut down and they are doing a good job of it. Either these
guys need to elevate their game when playing better teams, or the other
players need to make themselves known as threats. The big guns are capable
of elevating their play; ask Providence, which surrendered four goals to
Casale in one game last season. The question right now is will they be
able to do it over the remainder of this season.
BC next plays at Northeastern Friday night. Merrimack hosts Kent in a
nonleague tilt Friday and then goes to Providence for a televised game
(NESN) Sunday night at 7 pm. The Warriors, having dropped their first
three HE games, now will face Providence and BU in their remaining HE
games in the calendar year 1991 and could find themselves deep in the
cellar by Christmas. Not to mention that UNH and BC await in early 1992.
A win Sunday at Providence, currently struggling, would be very big.
- mike
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