Sunday, January 3, 1993 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
NONCONFERENCE GAME
Vermont Catamounts (6-7-2) 0 2 1 0 - 3
Merrimack Warriors (7-8-2) 1 0 2 0 - 3
FIRST PERIOD V-MC
1. MC1, Teal Fowler 6 (Bryan Miller), 5:46. 0-1
SECOND PERIOD
2. V1, Aaron Miller 1 (Dale Patterson, Eric Lavoie), 13:03. 1-1
3. V2, Dominique Ducharme 6 (Brendan Creagh, A. Miller), 17:38. PPG 2-1
THIRD PERIOD
4. MC2, John Barron 2 (Fowler, Dan Gravelle), 4:48. 2-2
5. V3, A. Miller 2 (Bill Lincoln), 7:23. 3-2
6. MC3, Barron 3 (Gravelle, Tom Costa), 16:23. 3-3
OVERTIME
No scoring.
SHOTS ON GOAL: Vermont 10-10-10--0 = 30
Merrimack 10--5-14--6 = 35
SAVES: Vermont, Christian Soucy (T, 5-7-2, 65:00, 35 sh-32 sv).
Merrimack, Mike Doneghey (T, 6-4-1, 65:00, 30-27).
POWER PLAYS: Vermont 1 for 7. Merrimack 0 for 4.
PENALTIES: Vermont 8/27. Merrimack 12/32.
REFEREES: Rich Fowkes, Drew Taylor. LINESMAN: John Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 832.
THREE STARS: 1. G Christian Soucy, Vermont (35 sh-32 sv).
2. C John Barron, Merrimack (2-0--2).
3. D Aaron Miller, Vermont (2-1--3).
3. G Mike Doneghey, Merrimack (30 sh-27 sv).
Vermont and Merrimack skated to a 3-3 tie in a game that featured solid
goaltending and great offensive performances from Vermont defenseman
Aaron Miller and Merrimack fourth-line center John Barron. Miller had a
hand in all of Vermont's three goals, while Barron scored twice with his
second of the game pulling Merrimack into a 3-3 tie with 3:37 left.
Vermont all-everything goalie Christian Soucy faced a barrage by Merrimack
in the third period and overtime, stopping 12 of 14 shots in the third and
turning aside all six shots he saw in OT to earn the game's number one
star. Merrimack goalie Mike Doneghey was just as good, allowing only
three goals on 30 shots and lowering his GAA yet again. Doneghey, whose
GAA was up over six around Thanksgiving, gave up fewer goals than his GAA
for the 7th straight game and his average now stands at 4.58, with a
majority of the damage being done in the Maine series back in November.
Both teams remained unbeaten in overtime this year. Vermont is 0-0-2
and Merrimack is 1-0-2. Merrimack remained unbeaten against ECAC foes
at 2-0-2, closing out its nonconference schedule with a 6-2-2 mark.
Vermont also finished its nonconference slate, having gone 1-4-2 against
Hockey East teams and 2-4-2 overall.
The game was a physical one, mostly clean as referees Rich Fowkes and
Drew Taylor did a good job of keeping the extracurriculars under control.
Each team had 10 shots in the first period which was evenly played, with
Merrimack coming up with the only goal. At 5:46, Bryan Miller took a
shot from the left circle that was stopped by Soucy, but Fowler got the
rebound to Soucy's right and flipped it in over the fallen goaltender.
Soucy was immense this afternoon and the only way he would be beaten was
off of a rebound or deflection.
Vermont had several golden opportunities on its two power plays, as
Dominique Ducharme shot a bouncing puck off the side of the open net
with Doneghey down and out, and later Soucy returned the favor by
robbing Jim Gibson twice on a Merrimack man advantage.
The best chances of an early Merrimack PP in the second came from
Vermont's Toby Kearney. Kearney backhanded the puck just wide when he
raced down ice to get to it first after a teammate had cleared it, and
seconds later, he again raced down to try to beat Doneghey on a breakaway
but couldn't control the puck. He slid into the boards and left the game
favoring his right shoulder after being attended to by the Vermont
trainer; he didn't return. No word on his condition, unfortunately.
It was then Vermont's turn to go up a man when Teal Fowler went off for
roughing, and again a great chance went by the boards when Bill Lincoln
banged a puck off the post with the net wide open. Merrimack defenseman
Mark Cornforth was quick to casually push the net off right after Lincoln's
shot, but no delay of game penalty was called.
The hard work by the Catamounts paid off finally at 13:03 when Aaron Miller
tied the game at 1-1. His shot from the blue line floated through the
air lazily till Fowler tried to knock it away, but instead the puck, which
was headed wide, deflected off of Fowler's stick and into the net. It
was the first goal Doneghey had allowed in 95:24 of play going back to
the Providence game on December 9th.
After Fowler went off again at 16:01, Vermont took the lead on a power
play goal by Ducharme at 17:38. Aaron Miller passed the puck to fellow
pointman Brendan Creagh whose shot was tipped in by Ducharme for his
sixth goal of the year. Ducharme leads Vermont in scoring with 6-10--16.
Having escaped the period down only 2-1 after being outshot 10-5, Merrimack
took advantage of a major penalty for high-sticking by Vermont's Matt
Johnson (called late in the second) to build some momentum. The Warriors
did not score on the power play but moved the puck well and got a few good
shots on Soucy. The momentum carried over after the teams returned to even
strength and at 4:48, Merrimack tied the score at 2-2. Dan Gravelle fed
Fowler whose initial shot was stopped by Soucy, but Barron was right there
to deposit the rebound behind Soucy for his second of the year.
The Catamounts took the lead again at 7:23 on Aaron Miller's second of
the game and of the season. Waiting at the left point, he took a feed
from Lincoln and fired a 25-footer past Doneghey to make it 3-2, and as
Soucy continued to make one big save after another, it looked like the
ECAC All-Rookie netminder would lead his team to victory.
But it was the physical Barron who would tie the game with his second
of the night for Merrimack at 16:23. Tom Costa got the puck off the
boards and shot it wide, but it was deflected by Gravelle to Barron who
had muscled his way in front and was able to shoot it in with Soucy out
of the way.
Merrimack killed another penalty to Fowler after the goal and then
Soucy robbed Barron on his hat-trick bid with 1:08 left to help send the
game into overtime.
In overtime, Merrimack swarmed all over Soucy, firing six shots in the
five minutes of play to Vermont's none, but Soucy was outstanding,
stopping Barron on another trick bid from point blank range and using
his pad to turn aside a 5-footer from Fowler.
POSTGAME
Soucy was the clear star as his netminding enabled Vermont to preserve
the tie. The sophomore is going to be one of the keys if the Cats are
going to contend for a home-ice slot in the ECAC, and as long as he plays
the way he did tonight, Vermont can expect to be in a game near the end
and that's where they'll need their offense to take over and come up
with the big goal. Aaron Miller, Vermont's captain, had a superb game
at both ends of the ice and is one of the better defensemen I've seen
this year.
Merrimack might not have been prepared to play the physical game coming
in, but they played it very well and it should prove to be a great
stepping stone to the remainder of the Hockey East schedule. The
Warriors are 7-8-2, but other than the four games Fowler missed in
the middle of the season, two losses each to Maine and Northeastern by
combined scores of 41-11, Merrimack is 7-4-2 and averaging 4.23 goals
per game while allowing just 3.23 (55 GF, 42 GA). That probably shows
just how valuable the leadership of Fowler is to this team, and even more
important, over the last 7 games, we have seen a return to the strong
team defense and good goaltending that marked Merrimack's early season.
This game marked the renewal of a rivalry that dates back to both teams'
Division II days and was the first time the teams had met since being
full-time members of DivI. The all-time series stands at 2-2-1, and
the previous meeting had been on 1/17/85 when Merrimack posted a 3-2
win at Vermont. The teams actually met for the DivII title in 1974
when Vermont defeated Merrimack, 6-2. Next year, the return engagement
will find Merrimack travelling to Vermont in a game scheduled to be held
on Thanksgiving Eve before Merrimack goes to Ottawa for a holiday tourney.
Vermont returns to ECAC action next weekend when they host Cornell and
Colgate at Gutterson Field House where they are unbeaten in their last
six games (5-0-1). Merrimack will return to Hockey East play with a
home-and-home against UNH next weekend. Friday's game will be at
Merrimack and aired live on NESN.
Oh yes, Merrimack is now 4-1-2 with Heather in attendance with the only
loss coming at Maine. The bad news is she won't be back until the
weekend of Jan 22-23. :-( (both for me and the Warriors)
R.I.P. Johnny Most (longtime Celtics' announcer who passed away today).
---
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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