I've been really busy, and don't exactly have the time to do this, but there'll
always be bugs in my software, whereas this is the last chance to get this
summary in before stale news becomes downright mouldy.
 
The UMass-Lowell Chiefs beat Colgate 6-4 in their home opener last Saturday
before one of their best crowds since I've been attending.  There were a fair
number of fans who'd come down from Colgate, but it seems like the promotional
work that Lowell has done is paying off.
 
Quick observations for those who want to move on to other things:
 
1. Although the shot count was even for two periods, the Chiefs were generating
significantly more offensive opportunites, but weren't totally clicking.
 
2. I'd be surprised if Colgate has a winning record this year, but they
have a lot of key players who are young so they should get stronger over the
second half.
 
3. Chiefs freshman Greg Bullock is going to be a player to watch.  A guy that
I coach youth hockey with (and has reffed at the international level so he
has lots of contacts) told me that there were some NHL scouts that he knew at
the game and they were checking Bullock's size and wondering where he came from
(Kitchener Jr. B according to the game program).  This kid is not Kariya, so
I don't want to get expectations unduly high, but IMHO this kid is going to
make a real impact as a freshman.  I believe that he was Hockey East co-Rookie
of the Week for his play in the 2 games against Air Force.  Bullock is also a
GREAT name for a hockey player.
 
4. Chiefs freshman Ed Campbell played well, I thought, and should be a regular
contributor.  He moved the puck well and has some offensive talents.  It WAS,
admittedly, either him or his defensive partner that made a very bad
defensive play on either the first or second Colgate goal, but since I'm not
sure who the guilty party was we'll let it go.  Since Lowell was missing
veteran defensemen Travis Tucker and Aaron Kriss due to injury, and graduated
several defenseman last year, the work of young blueliners like Campbell will
go a long way to deciding Lowell's fate this year.
 
5. Colgate sophomore goalie Matt Weder gives up too many rebounds.  It seemed
that even the shots that should have been handled cleanly were still dropping
to his feet.  (This observation is from my nine-year old son, who was wondering
if there was a problem with Weder's glove.  I think it was a valid point.)
 
On to the details...
 
Colgate opened with Earl Cronan, Chris DeProfio, and Greg Lewis (all
sophomores) up front with junior Matt Garzone and freshman Jack McIntosh on
the blueline and sophomore Matt Weder in goal.
 
The Chiefs opened with Shane Henry, Mike Murray, and Christian Sbrocca up
front, David Mayes and Kerry Angus on D, and Dwayne Roloson in goal.  It was
great to see Murray in the lineup since a recent scope on the knee had knocked
him out of the previous games and made him iffy for this match.  The other
Chiefs lines were:
Greg Bullock    Ian Hebert      Normand Bazin
Jon Mahoney     Jeff Daw        Eric Brown
Bill Riga       Neil Donovan    Ryan Golden
 
Ed Campbell     Paul Botto
Dave Barozzino  Jason Cormier
 
First Period
------------
Colgate jumped out on top with a goal by Harder from DeProfio and Craig and
then followed that with a deflection of a slapshot that resulted in a goal for
McIntosh from DiProfio and Lewis.
 
Lowell narrowed the score to a 2-1 deficit on a power play when Shane Henry
dropped down from the point to take a Greg Bullock feed in the slot at 11:50.
BTW, the first power play unit was Bullock Murray and Sbrocca up front and
Shane Henry at one point.  My notes are sketchy here; this is my first game
summary so you're having to endure my mistakes.  Sorry.
 
At 12:48 freshman Neil Donovan scored from fellow frosh Ryan Golden and
sophomore Riga.  This was, I believe, the second shift for what appears to be
the fourth line.
 
Roloson made a very nice stop near the end of the period, but I can't give
details because I only jotted down Rollie with a star next to it (being the
rookie reporter that I am), although it may have been a clearin that he'd
gone down behind the net to stop, only to have it take a funny bounce requiring
him to dive back into the crease to avoid a really fluke goal.  This play
actually happened, but I'm not sure if it was the first period or not.  Sorry
'bout that.
 
The shot count for the period was 11 for each side.
 
Second period
-------------
Shane Henry gave Christian Sbrocca a great outlet pass for a breakaway that
Sbrocca netted at 1:25.
 
Dan Gartner was all alone in front for Colgate and he converted the play at
10:07 with Fogarty assisting to tie the score at 3-3.
 
Shane Henry then scored at 12:31 with Ed Campbell assisting, only to have a
Colgate shot from the point deflect off Chiefs defenseman Botto's leg for a
fluke tying goal at 15:11.  The goal went to Harder from DeProfio.
 
Greg Bullock then put the Chiefs back ahead 5-4 when he got knocked down in
the slot, bounced back up, and then put the puck past Weder.
 
Shots on goal were either 10-10 or 11-10, (I was getting pizza and french fries
when it was announced) but I thought the Chiefs were significantly more
dominant than the shot count indicated.  The Chief's Bazin also had the check
of the game on some unidentified Red Raider at about the 13 or 14 minute mark.
 
Third Period
------------
In a physical, penalty-filled period the only scoring was Lowell's Hebert
scoring in a 4-on-4 situation at the 16:00 mark with the assist going to
Bullock.
 
With the Chiefs down in a 4-on-3 situation with 2:10 left in the game,
freshman defenseman Ed Campbell made a key clearing play to help ice the win.
 
Shots for the period were Mass-Lowell 14 Colgate 7.