BU finally played their first regular season game of the year
yesterday.  It was a long time coming and it was worth the
wait.  BU out-hustled, out-muscled, and out-played RPI at even
strength.  BU's size and strength allowed them to control the
game for long stretches, while RPI could only muster occasional
breakouts and short attacks in the BU zone.  BU did a good job
of staying out of the penalty box, and that hurt RPI, as their
strength appears to be special teams.  RPI's lone goal was
setup by their control of the puck in BU's zone during a
powerplay.  It was not officially a powerplay goal, as it was
scored a second after the penalty to BU expired.  All four of
RPI's powerplays looked good, but I think they need to take
more shots on goal.
 
BU's first powerplay looked decent, but the next two looked bad
as RPI controlled the puck and play during much of the time.
BU's goal with a second left on their third powerplay was more
a great individual effort by Mike Grier than a real powerplay
goal.  RPI had made a short-handed attack into the BU zone.
They controlled the puck and took a shoot on goal.  Derek made
the stop and cleared the puck to Steve Thornton, who saw Mike
Grier at center ice.  Steve made a great pass to Mike, who
skated in on Tamburro.  One of RPI's defensemen got back in
time, but he could not stop Mike from skating in and getting a
one-handed shot (a backhand?) on net.  Tamburro was surprised
by the shot and the puck got by him into the net.
 
Random observations:  BU's third goal was set up by some great
quick, crisp and hard passes behind the RPI net to an uncovered
O'Sullivan in the face-off circle to the left of Tamburro.
Mike Grier is going to be a force for BU in all aspects of the
game.  Derek made some nice saves (A bit hard to see in the 1st
and 3rd periods from Section 1).  Michael Tamburro made a lot
of nice saves for RPI.  He is exceptionally quick with his
feet.  At least three times he got his skate over to the far
post to close off the open net.  Each time his quick reaction
stopped the puck from going into the net.  It was worth the six
and a half hour round trip to see the game.  :-).
 
On the injury front, Jay Pandolfo is still out with a groin
pull.  The Globe mentioned he would likely miss both games this
weekend.
 
BU Roster
2 Kaj Linna, D; 3 Chris O'Sullivan, W; 5 Doug Wood, D; 7 Rich
Brennan, D; 8 Bill Pierce, W; 9 Shawn Bates, C; 11 Bob
Lachance, W; 12 Mike Grier, W; 15 Mike Sylvia, F; 16 Ken
Rausch, W; 18 Chris Drury, F; 19 Steve Thornton, C; 20 Jeff
Kealty, D; 21 Mike Prendergast, W; 22 Matt Wright, W; 24
Jacques Joubert, C; 26 Jon Coleman, D; 27 Shane Johnson, D; 30
Tom Noble, G; 35 Derek Herlofsky, G
 
RPI Roster
oops, I did not get the numbers
 
Box Score
           Goals
BU      2  1  2 - 5
RPI     0  0  1 - 1
           Shots
BU     11  9  10 - 30
RPI     3  7   6 - 16
 
Saves: BU   - Herlofsky    3  7  5 - 15 of 16  0.9375 Save %
       RPI  - Tamburro     9  8  8 - 25 of 30  0.8333 Save %
 
Power Plays:  BU  - 1 for 3 0.33%
              RPI - 0 for 4 0.00%
Penalties:    BU  - 4 for 8 minutes
              RPI - 3 for 6 minutes
 
Game Summary:
1st Period
12:06 BU - Jacques Joubert (Mike Prendergast, Jon Coleman;
18:53 BU Joubert (Prendergast, Ken Rausch)
No penalties
 
2nd Period
1:06 BU - Chris O'Sullivan (Mike Grier, Coleman)
Penalties
8:47 RPI - Bryan Richardson (2 min - tripping); 11:27 BU -
Grier (2 min - interference); 18:33 BU - Rich Brennan (2 min -
holding)
 
3rd Period
2:03 BU - Prendergast (Rausch, Coleman); 8:44 RPI - Richardson
(Adam Bartell, Eric Perardi); 12:20 BU - Grier (Steve Thornton,
Derek Herlofsky) PPG
Penalties
4:45 RPI - Craig Hamelin (2 min -holding); 6:43 BU - Jeff
Kealty (2 min - tripping); 10:21 RPI - Patrick Rochon (2 min -
interference); 19:04 BU - Joubert (2 min - interference)
 
Referees - Frank Cole, John Gallagher
Linesman - Shea
 
Attendance: 49?? (I forgot to write it down)
 
Points:
BU
Mike Prendergast (1g, 2a), Jon Coleman (3a), Jacques Joubert
(2g), Mike Grier (1g, 1a), Ken Rausch (2a), Chris O'Sullivan
(1g), Steve Thornton (1a), Derek Herlofsky (1a)
RPI
Richardson (1g), Adam Bartell (1a), Eric Perardi (1a)
 
All information is unofficial and may be wrong.
 
Sean Pickett     -     Go BU Terriers, 1994 Hockey East
Champions!
[log in to unmask]
 
P.S.  I watched the replay of the NU-Maine game on NESN when I
got home.  I want to know where that Hockey-L t-shirt (on the
BU fan behind the Maine bench) came from.  What's more, I want
to know where I can get one.