Lowell Outguns Valley Neighbor Merrimack, 8-4
 
It may not be the rivalry that ruled Division II a
few decades ago but there
were some high scoring players showcasing their
stuff in Billerica. The visiting
Warriors of Merrimack were simply outgunned by
their Merrimack Valley neighbors,
as the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks rode a four-point
performance by freshman Neil
Boulanger (2g, 2a).
 
The visiting Warriors got goals from their
prolific scorers Kris Porter (2g),
Martin Laroche (1g, 1a) and Sandy Cohen (1g) as
well as a few points from their
hustling playmaker Rejean Stringer (2a). They
showed the Billerica faithful a
little of what the rest of the nation has been
seeing as Merrimack has
positioned themselves as one of the high scoring
teams around. However, they
were never closer than two goals since 8:47 of the
second period as the
Riverhawks put seven goals by Merrimack starter
Cris Classen and another by
backup Roland Sperlich.
 
Lowell's junior goalie Scott Fankhouser looked
reasonably sharp against the
vaunted Warrior attack, posting his second
straight win and improving his record
to 3-0-1 when starting games this year at Tully
Forum. Fankhouser stopped 25 of
29 Merrimack shots, most of which came in the
third period. All four Warrior
goals came during odd-man situations, one of which
occurred when Lowell's Greg
Koehler inadvertently put one by Fankhouser while
trying to kill a penalty at
5:18 of the first. Another was during a 5-on-3
Merrimack power-play when Sandy
Cohen brought the Warriors to within 2 goals at
6:13 of the third period.
 
Lowell killed the rest of that power-play and
regained their three goal lead at
7:27 when junior Mike Mulligan slammed a rebound
by Classen off a Chris Bell
rush, giving Lowell a 6-3 lead. Lowell junior Doug
Nolan sent Classen packing at
11:24 when he scored his second goal in two games.
Nolan brought the puck into
the Merrimack zone and let go a slapper which
tipped off the bottom of Classen's
stick and went between his pads. The goalie was
backing into the net and was
caught with his stick up. It was one of three
goals which Lowell was fortunate
to get.
 
Lowell freshman Brad Rooney welcomed Sperlich at
the 15:38 mark, giving Lowell a
5-goal 8-3 lead. Rooney took a feed from Boulanger
and slipped a wrist shot
below the Warrior goalie's stick hand from the
slot. Merrimack's Porter scored a
power-play goal with 0:11 to play for the final
score.
 
The first period ended in a 1-1 tie after the two
teams traded power-play goals.
Merrimack's Martin Laroche got credit for the
Koehler miscue while Lowell's
freshman Neil Boulanger scored a nifty tying tally
at 11:26. Merrimack had
outshot Lowell 9-8 in the first stanza and play
was about even but Merrimack's
top two lines were kept well clear of Fankhouser.
Most of Merrimack's first
period opportunities came from the third line of
Cohen, Joe Gray and Jayson
Philbin.
 
Lowell scored three more unanswered goals in the
second. Wil Tormey scored at
the 8:19 mark and Sean Storozuk potted one from a
deft angle 0:28 seconds
later. Lowell had been carrying the play for the
most part but these two goals
ignited a greater Riverhawk momentum that the
Warriors weren't able to stem. Lowell
continued to pressure Classen until Boulanger got
his second goal at the 13:35
mark. Merrimack was able to climb within two goals
at the 18:40 mark when Kris
Porter took a nice feed on an odd man rush and
showed us why he's so
dangerous. He beat Fankhouser cleanly to the stick
side and the period ended with Lowell
leading 4-2.
 
Riverhawk Greg Koehler (1g, 2a) roofed one from
Classen's doorstep at 4:17 of
the third to put Lowell up 5-2 and the Warriors
got one right back when Cohen
got his power-play score courtesy of a two-man
advantage ... due to some
seriously questionable calls by referee Tim
Benedetto.
 
The win vaults Lowell into a third place tie with
Boston University (5-1-2) as
the Riverhawks HockeyEast record stands at 5-5-2,
8-8-2 overall. However, Lowell
has some serious games  played advantage (12-to-8)
over B.U. and Providence. The
upcoming home-and-home series with Providence at
the end of this month looks to
have serious implications on any chances that the
Riverhawks may have for
hosting a home-ice playoff series in March. Maine
(5-5-1), Boston College
(5-4-1), Lowell and Providence (5-3-0) all seem to
be in good position to make a
move for the coveted position. Lowell goes on the
road to Clarkson and St.
Lawrence next weekend with a three game unbeaten
streak.
 
The loss drops Merrimack to 2-7-0 in HockeyEast
(7-10-1 overall) and ends their
three game unbeaten streak. The eight goals was
the second highest toal that
Merrimack has surrendered this year (UNH scored 11
on 11/8). Merrimack hosts
Maine on Friday and travels to Colgate on Sunday.
 
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