Saturday, March 25, 1995 at The Centrum, Worcester, MA
NCAA EAST REGIONAL - NCAA QUARTERFINAL
5E Lake Superior Lakers (23-12-6, 23-12-6 NCAA DivI) 0 0 2 - 2
1E Boston University Terriers (29-6-3, 29-6-3 NCAA DivI) 1 1 4 - 6
FIRST PERIOD BU-LS
LS, Brian Felsner (hitting after whistle), 8:44. (BU 0-1)
1. BU1, Chris Drury 12 (Matt Wright, Bill Pierce), 12:20. 1-0
LS, Brad Willner (holding), 15:24.
BU, Shane Johnson (roughing), 15:24.
BU, Doug Wood (holding), 16:31.
LS, Sean Tallaire (cross-checking), 16:31.
SECOND PERIOD
2. BU2, Kaj Linna 5 (Steve Thornton), 8:01. 2-0
LS, Ryan Sharpe (hooking), 9:23. (BU 0-2)
BU, Johnson (tripping), 17:41. (LS 0-1)
THIRD PERIOD
3. BU3, Shawn Bates 17 (Mike Sylvia), 1:33. GWG 3-0
LS, Rob Valicevic (hooking), 4:41. (BU 0-3)
LS, Felsner (slashing), 6:58. (BU 1-4)
LS, Mike Matteucci (interference), 8:22. (BU 1-5)
4. BU4, Rich Brennan 5 (Johnson, Thornton), 8:41. 5x3 4-0
BU, Wood (? - not on game sheet), 9:31. (LS 0-2)
LS, Sean Tallaire (hooking), 12:13. (BU 1-6)
5. LS1, Keith Aldridge 9 (unassisted), 14:23. 4-1
LS, Matteucci (interference), 15:54. (BU 1-7)
6. LS2, Aldridge 10 (Jason Trzcinski), 17:29. SHG 4-2
7. BU5, Linna 6 (Chris O'Sullivan), 17:47. 5-2
LS timeout, 19:03.
8. BU6, Linna 7 (unassisted), 19:54. ENG 6-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: Lake Superior 8--4--9 = 21 ATTEMPTED: 14--7-11 = 32
Boston University 8-12-12 = 32 13-23-16 = 52
SAVES: LS, John Grahame (L, 58:34, 31 sh-26 sv).
BU, Tom Noble (W, 60:00, 21 sh-19 sv).
POWER PLAYS: LS 0 for 2. BU 1 for 7.
PENALTIES: LS 9/18. BU 4/8.
REFEREES: Greg Shephard, Mike Schmitt. LINESMAN: Jon Elvy. CONF: WCHA.
ATTENDANCE: 10,881 (capacity unknown - 14,000?).
LINEUP: Lake Superior
LW Bates Battaglia C Wayne Strachan RW Dan Galarneau
LW Joe Blaznek C Terry Marchant RW Dan Angelelli
LW Jason Tzrcinski C Gerald Tallaire RW Rob Valicevic
LW Mike Morin C Brian Felsner RW Sean Tallaire
LD Brad Willner RD Ryan Sharpe
LD Ted Laviolette RD Keith Aldridge
LD Mike Matteucci RD David Lambeth
G John Grahame
G Sean Kulick
LINEUP: Boston University
LW Chris O'Sullivan C Steve Thornton RW Mike Grier
LW Jay Pandolfo C Jacques Joubert RW Bob Lachance
LW Bill Pierce C Chris Drury RW Matt Wright
LW Ken Rausch C Shawn Bates RW Mike Sylvia
LD Kaj Linna RD Jon Coleman
LD Shane Johnson RD Rich Brennan
LD Chris Kelleher RD Doug Wood
G Tom Noble
G Derek Herlofsky
G Shawn Ferullo
Boston University scored once in each of the first two periods and
added two more goals early in the third to open up a commanding 4-0
lead over nemesis Lake Superior, going on to win 6-2 in the NCAA
Quarterfinal matchup played Saturday night at Worcester, MA. BU
moves on to the Final Four in Providence, RI, setting up a rematch
of the 1994 semifinals against Minnesota, who defeated Colorado College
tonight in the West Regional. BU defeated Minnesota 4-3 in overtime
in the championship game of the Mariucci Classic earlier this season.
Defenseman Kaj Linna led the way for BU with a hat trick, capped by
a 195-foot empty-netter with six seconds left, and goaltender Tom
Noble shut out the Lakers for 54:23 before Keith Aldridge scored twice
to pull LSSU within two in the third.
The win was the first ever for Jack Parker against LSSU in his 22 year
DivI head coaching career, all at BU. The Terriers had lost to LSSU
in NCAA play each of the last two seasons, a 6-1 loss in the 1993
semifinals and a 9-1 loss in the 1994 championship game. The win is
also, officially, BU's first ever over the Lakers (1-3-0). Parker's
predecessor, Leon Abbott, had directed a 6-5 win by BU in the Duluth
Holiday Tournament early in the 1972-73 season, but the game was later
forfeited to Lake Superior because of BU's use of an ineligible player.
That came in Ron Mason's final season as head coach of the Lakers
before he moved on to Bowling Green.
LSSU's string of three straight Final Four appearances, including
national titles in 1992 and 1994, comes to an end. BU moves on to
its third straight Final Four and the 18th in school history - the
10th under Parker.
The key to the win was BU's strong defense, which held LSSU to only
21 shots on goal and just 32 shots attempted. Despite shots being
even at 8-8 in the first, BU had the better chances and got a goal
from Chris Drury in the slot at 12:20 to go up 1-0.
Linna picked up his first goal midway through the game to make it
2-0, as Steve Thornton won an end zone faceoff back to Linna for a
quick blast from the point. The Terriers dominated the second
period territorially, outshooting Lake Superior 12-4, but John
Grahame stood tall in the Laker net to keep it a two-goal lead after
two.
However, LSSU's chances were coming few and far between, and BU put
them in a deep hole just 1:33 into the third when their fourth line
worked the puck in the offensive end, Bates converting a feed from
Mike Sylvia for his 17th goal to make it 3-0. BU's top two lines
were again contained, but the Terriers are deep, and combined with
four goals from defensemen, a goal from each of the bottom two lines
went a long way towards giving BU the win. The third line of Pierce-
Bates-Wright may have been BU's most effective this evening.
Officiating in the third did not favor the Lakers, as they had five
minors called on them to BU's one. Two of those calls were key, as
Rich Brennan would score a 5x3 goal from the point at 8:41 to make
it 4-0. This was a big goal, since Aldridge took the Lakers on his
back late in the game and scored twice to suddenly make it interesting,
at 4-2 with 2:31 left. But Linna put it away with a goal 18 seconds
later, and he got his trick with LSSU pressing and Grahame pulled
in the final seconds - a perfect empty-net shot from his own goal line.
Earlier in the period, with BU up 4-0 and LSSU pressing, there were
a number of times that BU defensemen took liberties in their own
end but were not called - I counted about four possible trips or
interferences deep in the BU end on one shift alone. LSSU was
rightly upset when they were called for a penalty soon afterwards.
But they were already deep in a hole as it was.
Part of the reason for that was that like against Providence in the
HE Championship, BU played a very disciplined game much of the way
and only allowed LSSU one power play through the first two periods.
Like PC, the Lakers got caught trying to keep up with the speedy BU
forwards - perhaps fatigue was a factor - and they were forced to
take several penalties as a result. However, BU only scored one
PPG on the night, and that goal was later countered by Aldridge's
second goal which came shorthanded. LSSU's penalty kill was very
good, rarely allowing BU anything from right in front of Grahame.
This was a game that BU seemed determined to win from the start, as
they put the emphasis on strong defense which allowed them to give
up few shots and created quite a few good rushes into the LSSU end.
LSSU seemed to be trying to stem the tide all night long, and even
when they were able to get the puck up ice, BU's excellent core of
defensemen once again would quickly transition the play into a BU
attack - as they did in their three HE playoff games.
And freshman goalie Tom Noble, who got the start in the normal rotation,
played a fantastic game and again proved his ability in a big playoff
game. Beforehand, some questioned whether Parker might not be better
off coming back with Herlofsky, the senior who played well in the HE
final against PC. But I felt this would have been a mistake, partly
because both goalies had played well lately and also because a sudden
change in the rotation might have affected Noble's confidence. He has
steadily improved as he has been given an equal chance to play, but
if Parker were to have skipped his turn and played Herlofsky again, it
could have sent a message to the freshman that his coach didn't have
confidence in him to do the job in a big game. I felt strongly that if
BU were to lose, it would not have been because of goaltending. And
Noble proved he deserved to play. I thought beforehand that this was
a good decision by Parker, and the results bear this out.
With the win, BU effectively gets a monkey off their back, since
LSSU had given them trouble the last two years - although with
teams that were better than the one LSSU had this year. Still, LSSU
deserved and got a good round of applause from the one-sided BU
crowd at the Centrum when they raised their sticks in salute to
the fans at the game's conclusion. The applause seemed to be a
sort of respect afforded a foe that BU fans clearly felt was a tough
one to overcome entering the tournament.
The heavily pro-BU crowd of just under 11,000 - not much shy of a
sellout - was given a lot to cheer for tonight, and as the clock
wound down, they nearly shook the building with their enthusiasm. BU
has certainly become "Massachusetts' Team", as it was clear that a
number of area fans who haven't been there all year came to the game
to see and root on the Terriers. After LSSU's salute to the crowd,
the Lakers skated off and BU returned to a huge ovation from the
several thousand fans remaining.
Jeff Jackson has once again proved why he is considered by many to
be one of the top coaches in the college game, as he took a team
that was way out of contention several weeks ago and once again got
them to the CCHA Final Four and a win over powerful Michigan as
well as a championship victory over MSU, followed by an NCAA bid
and an impressive victory over tough Clarkson before falling tonight
in the quarterfinals. Even in defeat, they did not go down without
a fight, as against a more talented foe, they hung tough through two
periods. Kudos to Jackson and the Lakers for a superb end to the
season that should translate into more success next year.
The task at hand for BU will be to put this emotional win behind them
and go on to success in Providence. The advantage they have is that
they can take a day or so to enjoy the win, then spend several days
preparing for Minnesota on Thursday.
The strength of BU next weekend will be their defense. Before the season,
Parker claimed that it was BU's best ever, but this seemed questionable
early on as the Terriers had several games in which the defense did
not perform as expected. But at least over the latter half of the
year, they have been outstanding, and the proof is in the pudding.
Only Providence and Lowell have scored more than three goals against
BU over the Terriers' last 13 games (12-1-0). Like Jackson and LSSU,
and many other coaches before him, Doug Woog will be hard-pressed to find
a way to solve that defense and score some goals Thursday. It should be
an interesting matchup.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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