Friday, February 5, 1993 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston College Eagles (8-15-4, 5-9-2 HE 6th) 1 2 2 - 5
Merrimack Warriors (10-14-2, 4-12-0 HE 8th) 0 1 3 - 4
FIRST PERIOD BC-MC
1. BC1, Michael Spalla 9 (John Joyce, Todd Hall), 2:49. 5x3 1-0
SECOND PERIOD
2. BC2, Greg Callahan 1 (unassisted), 1:16. 2-0
3. BC3, Sal Manganaro 3 (Spalla), 15:24. 3-0
4. MC1, Matt Adams 4 (Dan Gravelle, Bryan Miller), 16:40. 3-1
THIRD PERIOD
5. MC2, Wayde McMillan 14 (Jim Gibson, Cooper Naylor), 4:42. PPG 3-2
6. BC4, Jerry Buckley 3 (Brett Stickney), 7:39. 4-2
7. MC3, Gibson 11 (unassisted), 9:09. 4-3
8. BC5, David Hymovitz 4 (Ryan Haggerty), 18:44. ENG GWG 5-3
9. MC4, Teal Fowler 11 (Gravelle, Gibson), 19:27. 5-4
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 12--9--7 = 28
Merrimack 4-10--9 = 23
SAVES: BC, Josh Singewald (W, 7-7-4, 60:00, 23 sh-19 sv).
MC, Mike Doneghey (L, 9-9-1, 59:14, 27-23).
POWER PLAYS: BC 1 for 6. MC 1 for 3.
PENALTIES: BC 6/15. MC 10/20.
REFEREES: Steve McBride, John Gravallese. LINESMAN: Bill Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 1,407.
THREE STARS: 1. D Michael Spalla, BC (1-1--2).
2. LW Jim Gibson, Merrimack (1-2--3).
3. RW Jerry Buckley, BC (1-0--1).
In a game that set college hockey back about 25 years both on and off
the ice, BC opened up a 3-0 lead and held on to defeat Merrimack, 5-4.
The Eagles took the season series from Merrimack, 2 games to 1, and moved
into 6th place with the win by virtue of slumping Northeastern's loss
to Providence.
The game was marred by four incidents of tennis balls being thrown onto
the ice by Merrimack fans. Two delay of game penalties resulted, after
the 2nd and 3rd incidents, although BC did not score on the ensuing power
plays. After the fourth incident, in which only one ball was thrown,
security personnel with the help of referee Steve McBride located the
person who threw it and he was escorted from the rink. Merrimack coaches
and players were clearly not happy at this display by their "fans".
The game was a slow one, very physical at times and bordering on cheap
occasionally. Neither team played very well although the Eagles came up
with the big goals when they needed them and were able to prevent
Merrimack from putting together much of an offense. However, considering
that this was yet another game that was vital to Merrimack's quest to
not finish last, the team did not come out and play inspired hockey and
certainly did not deserve to win.
One thing that was nice to see (or hear) was the addition of an organ
player at the Volpe. It gave the game more of a hockey-like atmosphere
as opposed to the rock music that is usually played here and at most
rinks. Merrimack doesn't have a band, but the organ really makes a
difference, to me anyway, and it seemed popular enough that it will be
continued the rest of the season (except for tomorrow night, when the guy
can't make it).
THE GAME
After two early penalties to Merrimack, BC found itself with a 5x3 and
they were quick to capitalize. At 2:49, John Joyce carried the puck
into the zone after a line change, pulled up and passed across to Michael
Spalla at the center of the blue line. Spalla's low, hard shot beat
Mike Doneghey through the 5-hole to make it 1-0, Spalla's 9th. With
two defensemen out of the lineup for BC (Ian Moran day-to-day with an
unknown injury, Tom Ashe with a sprained wrist last Friday), Spalla was
moved back to defense where he started at BC two years ago, and the
Eagles only skated five Ds tonight in total. BC dominated play for much
of the period, outshooting Merrimack 12-4, but it remained 1-0 at the
buzzer.
BC went up 2-0 1:16 into the second when defenseman Greg Callahan grabbed
the puck at center ice, skated into the zone and took a shot that went
off a defender's skate and through Doneghey's pads. It was Callahan's
first collegiate goal. The Eagles started to sit back a little, having a
two goal lead, and nothing much happened until about 9 minutes in when
Merrimack put together its best scoring chance of the game to that point.
Tom Costa fed Dan Gravelle who had sneaked in close behind the D and
Gravelle put a shot on that Josh Singewald turned behind the net. Gravelle
got his rebound and tried to wheel around and stuff it, but his weak
backhander went off the side of the net. Singewald was making his first
start since returning from the knee injury he had suffered on January 15th,
although he did appear in relief of Mike Sparrow in Monday's Beanpot loss
to BU. He wasn't tested much on the night, at least until the third
period.
At 9:36, BC's Don Chase and Merrimack's Costa got tangled up and both
were whistled for matching penalties, but the Merrimack fans thought only
Costa was being called. They tossed dozens of tennis balls on the ice
and were warned not to throw any more, but we knew this wasn't going to
be the last of this since Merrimack hadn't scored its first goal yet.
Merrimack nearly scored a little later when Jim Gibson stole the puck in
the corner and fed Wayde McMillan in front for a shot that was stopped;
John Barron got the rebound and tried to stuff it but Singewald was able
to block the attempt with his glove.
At 15:24, Spalla got the puck at center ice and fed Sal Managanaro who
had just come off the bench. Manganaro's blast from the right circle
beat Doneghey to the stick side and a 3-0 lead.
The Warriors finally put together a great rush and it resulted in their
first goal. Unfortunately, it also resulted in more tennis balls and
a delay of game penalty. On the goal, which came at 16:40, Gravelle
fed Bryan Miller at the bottom of the left circle, and Miller passed
cross-ice to Matt Adams who flipped it into the net before Singewald
could get over to stop it. After the delay of game penalty was announced
and Ryan Mailhiot headed to the box to serve it, the fans got several
nasty looks from the Merrimack players.
The Eagles controlled the puck well on the power play and rang the pipe
once, but they didn't score. Then, with the period winding down,
Merrimack dumped the puck in, and after Singewald covered it up, Teal
Fowler came in and knocked Singewald over which was unnecessary. BC
defenseman Ron Pascucci hammered Fowler with a vicious cross-check to
the head, and both players ended up in the box - Fowler for charging,
and Pascucci for cross-checking, a major. The teams began to skate 4x4
and BC ended the period up 3-1.
With Fowler's penalty winding down in the third and Merrimack about to go
on a power play for the final three minutes of the major, Gravelle took
a bad hooking penalty behind the play, and Merrimack had to play short-
handed for 36 seconds and then 4x4 again for another 1:24. When Gravelle
returned to the ice, there was only 1:36 left on the major. But Merrimack
did score on the unlimited power play with 5 seconds left on it. At 4:42,
Gibson fed McMillan off the bench, and McMillan blasted one past Singewald
from the right circle for his 14th of the year - one of many goals scored
tonight on line changes. That made it 3-2 BC. But since more tennis
balls came on the ice, the rest of the major was negated by the delay of
game penalty Merrimack received, its 2nd. Some of the tennis balls came
from the BC side and Merrimack argued this with the referees, but it is
still the home team's job to police this - and besides, 1) some came from
youths who had gathered up some of the balls from the previous time and
just happened to be standing near the glass on that side, and 2) still
more came from the Merrimack side anyway.
Merrimack killed off the penalty, but the Eagles took a 4-2 lead at 7:39
when Jerry Buckley's shot from the blue line found net just underneath
the crossbar. Gibson cut it to a goal again at 9:09 when he intercepted
a pass at center ice and blasted the puck by Singewald's glove from just
inside the blue line - and another tennis ball came on, but as I said
earlier, referee McBride helped security remove the tosser from the rink
and no penalty was issued. The players were clearly frustrated with the
fans.
BC had a great scoring chance when Todd Hall hit Manganaro with a pass that
nearly set up a breakaway, but Mark Cornforth stayed right with him and
tied him up so that he couldn't get a shot off. With BC skating only 5
Ds and 13 forwards, Manganaro was listed as the extra forward, but he
played well in that reserve role.
Under two minutes and down 4-3, Merrimack pulled Doneghey for a sixth
attacker, but after some pressure, BC forced the puck out of the zone.
First Ryan Haggerty knocked it away from one Merrimack player and sent
it towards the empty net, and then when a defenseman couldn't control
it, David Hymovitz swooped in and pushed it through his legs for an empty-
netter and a 5-3 lead. That goal would prove to be the winner, oddly
enough, since Merrimack pulled Doneghey again and scored with 33 seconds
left to make it 5-4; Fowler took the puck out of a crowd behind the net
and his centering pass went off a defenseman's skate and between
Singewald's legs. BC buckled down after that and held on for the
nailbiting win.
POST GAME
This was Merrimack's first loss at home since January 8th, as they had
won their last three HE games within the so-called friendly confines of
the Volpe Complex. Merrimack lost a chance to move back into a tie for
7th-place with BC, not to mention taking the season series. But missing
several key players, BC nonetheless pulled together and played well
early on to open up the 3-0 lead on the road and got the two big goals
they needed in the third that enabled them to escape with the win.
BC is off Saturday night and will play Northeastern in the Beanpot
consolation Monday night. BC returns to HE action next Friday night
at home against UMass-Lowell. Merrimack will host UNH Saturday night
as UNH attempts to sweep the season series from Merrimack; the Wildcats
won two games on Jan 8-9 by virtue of outstanding third period performances
in which they scored four unanswered goals the first night and five
unanswered goals the second. UNH will try to regain third place in HE
from Providence with a win over Merrimack.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.) *HMN*
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