Tuesday, December 10, 1991 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston University Terriers (8-4-0, 3-4-0 HE)     2     3     1  -  6
Merrimack Warriors (7-8-0, 0-5-0 HE)             2     2     1  -  5
FIRST PERIOD                                                          BU-MC
1. MC1, Jeff Massey #5 (Dan Gravelle, Rob Atkinson), 7:19.             0-1
2. BU1, Mike Prendergast #7 (Mike Pomichter, Doug Friedman), 9:35. PPG 1-1
3. BU2, Mark Brownschidle #2 (Dave Dahlberg, Nick Vachon), 14:19.      2-1
4. MC2, Teal Fowler #10 (Gravelle, Alex Weinrich), 15:37.  PPG         2-2
SECOND PERIOD
5. MC3, Don MacLeod #1 (Massey, Gravelle), 7:34.                       2-3
6. BU3, Tom Dion #4 (Kaj Linna, Mark Bavis), 11:17.  PPG               3-3
7. BU4, David Sacco #4 (Pomichter), 13:30.                             4-3
8. BU5, Dion #5 (Vachon, Dahlberg), 16:57.                             5-3
9. MC4, Fowler #11 (Cooper Naylor), 17:50.                             5-4
THIRD PERIOD
10. MC5, Fowler #12 (Naylor, Claude Maillet), 14:22.  PPG              5-5
11. BU6, Prendergast #8 (Brownschidle, Sacco), 14:47.  GWG             6-5
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston University  13-13-11 = 37
               Merrimack          14--7-10 = 31
GOALIES: Boston University, Scott Cashman (6-3-0, 60:00, 31 shots-26 saves).
         Merrimack, Steve D'Amore (5-7-0, 59:00, 37 shots-31 saves).
POWER PLAYS: BU 2 of 5.  Merrimack 2 of 4.
PENALTIES: BU 4/8.  Merrimack 5/10.
REFEREE: Scott Leavitt.  LINESMEN: Matt Good, Tim Benedetto.
ATTENDANCE: 1,627 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. Tom Dion, BU (2-0--2, PPG).
             2. Teal Fowler, Merrimack (3-0--3, 2 PPG).
             3. Mike Prendergast, BU (2-0--2, GWG, PPG).
 
In a tough seesaw battle, Mike Prendergast scored the winner on his second
of the night with 5:13 left to give BU a 6-5 win over Merrimack.  The GWG
came just 25 seconds after Teal Fowler's third goal of the night had tied
it at 5-5.  Tom Dion also played a strong game for BU and had two goals,
nearly three several times.
 
For about the first half of the game, both teams played well in their own
ends, and the few mistakes that were made resulted in goals.  The Terriers
came out hitting as expected, but Merrimack happily went along and hit
right back in contrast to their usual skating style.  BU wasn't able to
outskate the Warriors as they have done in past years.
 
Merrimack got a big goal from Jeff Massey that seemed to spark the team,
at 7:19.  Dan Gravelle passed the puck out of the corner to Massey, whose
backhander slid through Cashman's pads.  Gravelle had a great all-around
game and had three assists to give him 6-22--28; his 22 assists tie him for
fourth in DivI in that category.  He is the 10th-leading scorer in DivI.
 
However, the Terriers went on the power play just 18 seconds later, and
they capitalized with only two seconds left on the man advantage.  Mike
Pomichter carried up the right side into the zone and fed Doug Friedman,
who spotted the uncovered Mike Prendergast slipping in behind the defense.
Prendergast took the pass and flipped it in before Steve D'Amore could
get over to cover the angle.  BU went up 2-1 at 14:19 when Mark Brownschidle
took a pass from behind the net and beat D'Amore from the left circle.
 
But Merrimack went on a power play of its own, and at 15:37 Teal Fowler
scored his first of three to tie it at 2-2.  Gravelle's shot from the
top of the left circle was partially stopped by Cashman, but it kept
bouncing through his pads and Fowler tapped it in from the side of the net.
Fowler is a small guy, but he was allowed to set up in front for all three
of his goals.  Cashman looked shaky early on and left quite a few rebounds.
Shots on goal favored Merrimack in the first, 14-13, as did shots attempted,
24-23.
 
The second period saw much more skating and more solid backchecking by
both teams, especially Merrimack which allowed BU no shots on goal for the
first half of the period.  The Warriors went ahead 3-2 at 7:34 when
defenseman Don MacLeod scored his first goal of the year and of his career.
Massey fired a shot from the top of the left circle which Cashman kicked
out, but Gravelle tossed the rebound back to MacLeod at the right point,
and his shot went through untouched.
 
However, BU roared back with the game's next three goals to take a 5-3
lead.  Merrimack started struggling in its own end and standing around.
Dion got his first goal on the power play at 11:17 when his shot from
the left point went off a Merrimack stick and by D'Amore.  Then David Sacco
took a feed from Pomichter in front and faked D'Amore before slipping
it by him at 13:30.  Dion scored his second of the game at 16:57 on
another slot from the left point that went all the way through, Vachon and
Dahlberg assisting.
 
The Terriers looked about to take over the game, but Fowler netted his
second with 2:10 left in the period to bring Merrimack within one.  Naylor
fed him from behind the net as again the BU defense couldn't move the shifty
 Fowler out of the slot.  Every one of Fowler's goals were big - tying
the game at 2, cutting the lead to 5-4 and later tying the game at 5.
Shots in the period favored BU, 13-7, but all of BU's shots came in the
last half of the period.
 
Jon Jenkins drew an elbowing penalty with three seconds left in the
second period, so Merrimack began the third on the power play, but they
were shut down.  BU went up a man soon after that, but only John Lilley
was able to generate some offense with two good shots that D'Amore could
see and stopped.  It wasn't until 14:22, six seconds into another power
play, that Fowler finished his trick and tied the game at 5-5.  He banged
in the rebound of Naylor's shot and drove the crowd wild.  But only 25
seconds later, the Warriors were caught playing badly in their own zone,
and Sacco fed Prendergast in front for the winner.  Merrimack had to kill
off a questionable roughing penalty to key defenseman Mark Cornforth after
he had been held; referee Scott Leavitt completely missed the hold.  There
were less than two minutes left when Cornforth got out of the box,
and BU effectively controlled play to escape with the win.
 
BTW, there was plenty of cheering when Fowler completed his trick but
no hats were thrown on the ice, probably because it was so cold that those
fans wearing hats thought (rightly) that they would be better off keeping
their heads warm.
 
EPILOGUE
0-5 in Hockey East is deceptive because Merrimack could have won at least
four of those games.  A win tonight would certainly have been big, but
even the way they played is cause for celebration as it was likely their
best overall effort of the year.  I still think they'll beat BU at least
once this season.   Unfortunately, they have dug themselves a deep hole
as far as the league is concerned, but if they can elevate their play
even further in the second half with several of the players who are out
due to come back, they should be right back in the thick of the race.
But that's a pretty big if.  Merrimack is off until Dec 30 when they
will host Charlie Shub, Major Delich and the US Air Force Academy.
 
BU continues to get good play from their young players and former role
players, and I think their 3-4 league record is a bit deceptive too.
Cashman has been shaky lately, allowing 17 goals in his last three games;
his GAA is almost 5.00.  The Terriers will need him to play more
consistently to give confidence to the young players who dominate their
lineup.  BU plays again on Dec 21 when they host Dartmouth.
 
Contrary to rumor, the Jack Parker Triathlon, consisting of the Water
Bottle Toss, the Stick Heave, and the Glass Climb, was not held tonight
even with Scott Leavitt in town. :-)
 
In other HE action, Providence beat BC, 6-3.  PC moves into a tie for
second with 8 points, and BU is in a two-way tie for fifth with six points.
Updated standings will be sent out after tomorrow's UNH-UML game.