By Joe Concannon
GLOBE STAFF
 
NOBLE IS GIVING IT BEST SHOT
 
There was never any question about Tom Noble's potential for goaltending
stardom. He had all the credentials after four years at Catholic Memorial,
where his career record was 55-2-1 and he posted 13 shutouts in 25 games
last season.
 
Still, his decision to attend Boston University raised a few eyebrows,
because J.P. McKersie and Derek Herlofsky were returning from the NCAA
finalists.
 
He decided to follow in the Catholic Memorial tradition ignited by alumnus
Jack Parker, the BU coach, simply because Noble wanted to play in Brown
Arena, where he had played and practiced in high school, and he hoped to
earn some ice time. He made the decision early in his senior year, before
McKersie suffered serious injuries in a bicycle accident last summer that
will sideline him for the season.
 
Noble started this season alternating with Herlofsky and will probably
continue in the rotation when Herlofsky returns after recovering from a
skate wound in his right leg that required 25 stitches.
 
In the meantime, the rookie has flourished. His only loss was a 6-5 setback
against the University of Maine in Orono when Noble played well but the
defense was shabby.
 
Then Herlofsky was hurt, and Noble was in the net when the Terriers beat
Vermont, 11-1, and followed it up with a 10-2 victory over Dartmouth in
Brown Arena. Noble is 5-1 with an .844 save percentage and a 3.15
goals-against average. He's had a 1.69 GAA and a .916 save percentage in his
last two games. Circumstances helped, but he was ready.
 
"The whole process started in my junior year," says Noble. "I knew there
were two goalies here. I also had options to go on to a junior league and
come in here as a freshman and play. Or I could have gone out and played at
a different school. I narrowed my choices down to Michigan and BU, and I
liked Coach Parker and my family wanted me to stick around here and play
around here.
 
"I didn't really want junior hockey. I  stayed back when I was in the first
grade  and I didn't think I needed an extra year. I  just figured I'd do
what I could and try to  earn as much playing time as I could. I enjoyed
Michigan a lot, but I think this  program is second to none, and that's what
it  came down to. I knew J.P. and Derek would  be back, but my biggest thing
is I was going  to try to play as hard as I could."
 
Out of necessity, he has had to adapt.  "We were getting into a rotation,"
says Noble. "So far, I've played just one game that I  shouldn't have. I
hope Derek gets back. He's  a great guy and he's really helped me make  the
transition from high school to college.  It's different. Everybody shoots
that much  harder, but you have to go in with the same  mentality. I've
always wanted to play goalie."
 
The Catholic Memorial pipeline continues to flourish, with Noble joining
Jeff  Realty, Mike Sylvia, Chris O'Sullivan and  Mike Prendergast on the
Terriers. "There's  a lot of kids who went to CM who'd love to play here,"
he says. "It's the same for myself."
 
BROWN'S NET GAIN
 
Take note of a Brown team that tops the  ECAC standings with a 6-2 record
and is  coached by former Dartmouth goaltender  Bob Gaudet, with an assist
from former BU  netminder Brian Durocher. "I think we're fairly regular
guys," says Gaudet, who credits Durocher with bringing along Mike Parsons to
succeed the departed Jeff Finch in  the net.
 
Parsons, from Calgary, "played in maybe  20 games the previous two years,"
says Gaudet.
 
 His blossoming team is led by captain/defenseman Mike Traggio and high
scorer  Ryan Mulhern. "We seem to lose some pretty good players and people
pick us back in the  pack," says Gaudet. "We're not going to blow  people
out, but our team has played pretty  strong team defense."
 
TIGERS' TALE
 
If Brown isn't the surprise team in the  ECAC, how about Princeton? The
Tigers started out 14 but are 6-1-1 in their last eight games. They swept
the weekend series at Cornell and Colgate and beat RPI, 9-1. The  high
scorer (10-7-17) is Jonathan Kelley of  Arlington High School and the
goaltender is James Konte of Anchorage. The Tigers (4-4 1, 9 points) were
picked 10th in the ECAC but are tied for fourth with Clarkson, behind  Brown
(12), Harvard (5-3-1,11) and RPI (5-1,  10) . . . Princeton and Colgate meet
in the opener of the Dexter Tournament in Orono today at 4 p.m., with Maine
(14-0-5) facing Canada's top intercollegiate team, Acadia University
(11-1-1), in the feature game . . .  Cornell is led by goalie Jason Elliott,
a freshman out of Chapman, Australia, who played  junior hockey in Western
Canada.
 
Reprinted without permission from The Boston Globe
Thursday, 22 December 1994
 
Sean Pickett
Go BU Terriers, 1994 Hockey East Champions!
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