Friday, February 26, 1993 at Volpe Complex, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Maine Black Bears (32-1-2, 19-1-1 HE 1st) 2 2 0 - 4
Merrimack Warriors (13-17-2, 7-15-0 HE t6th) 0 0 2 - 2
FIRST PERIOD UM-MC
1. UM1, Paul Kariya 22 (Dan Murphy), 0:27. 1-0
2. UM2, Chris Ferraro 21 (Justin Tomberlin), 3:55. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. UM3, Chris Imes 9 (Matt Martin, Chris Ferraro), 7:05. PPG GWG 3-0
4. UM4, Tomberlin 11 (Kariya, Peter Ferraro), 13:51. 4-0
THIRD PERIOD
5. MC1, Dan Gravelle 16 (Teal Fowler, Rob Atkinson), 8:46. PPG 4-1
6. MC2, Wayde McMillan 15 (Martin Favreau), 11:48. 4-2
SHOTS ON GOAL: Maine 18-18-10 = 46
Merrimack 8-11-10 = 29
SAVES: Maine, Mike Dunham (W, 18-1-1, 59:59, 29 sh-27 sv).
Merrimack, Mike Doneghey (L, 12-12-1, 59:10, 46-42).
POWER PLAYS: Maine 1 for 7. Merrimack 1 for 8.
PENALTIES: Maine 11/22. Merrimack 10/20.
REFEREES: Steve McBride, John Gravallese. LINESMAN: Dennis Hughes.
ATTENDANCE: 3,112 (Merrimack record since joining Hockey East).
THREE STARS: 1. G Mike Dunham, Maine (29 sh-27 sv).
2. G Mike Doneghey, Merrimack (46 sh-42 sv).
3. LW Justin Tomberlin, Maine (1-1--2).
Goalies Mike Dunham and Mike Doneghey were the stars of the show as
Maine narrowly escaped what would have been one of college hockey's
all-time biggest upsets and beat Merrimack, 4-2. Dunham stopped 27 shots,
including 11 in the second period and 8 in the third, to withstand a
ferocious Merrimack onslaught over the game's final 30 minutes. Doneghey
turned aside 42, including 16 in each of the first two periods, to set
the stage for the near-heroics of his teammates.
No two ways around it; Maine was outhit, outhustled, and nearly outscored.
The Black Bears' top line of Kariya-Montgomery-Ingraham was held to a
goal and an assist, as Kariya got both points and Montgomery (69 points)
and Ingraham (65) went scoreless. Justin Tomberlin's goal and an assist
also led the way for Maine offensively, but the nation's top-ranked team
was bottled up and frustrated all night long by a fired-up Merrimack team
that came to play. Last week, much of the country was surprised by BU's
win at Maine, but those who saw the game know that Maine actually carried
the play most of the way and probably should have won. This game was
even more surprising because Maine was playing a lesser opponent and had
the play taken to them much of the way.
This game was quite a contrast to the Merrimack-Maine series back in
November, in which Maine beat the Warriors 14-1 and 11-2. Many local fans
came to the game to see the top team in the country and weren't looking
for a great outing by Merrimack; what they got was perhaps the greatest
game ever played at the Volpe Complex, and certainly one that belongs in
the Merrimack history books.
THE GAME
Maine came out storming and took a 2-0 lead less than four minutes into
the game. Kariya's rocket from the left circle eluded Doneghey just 27
seconds in, and it gave the freshman 80 points on the season - he is only
the fourth player in Maine history ever to score 80 points in one year.
At 3:55, Peter Ferraro's 21st made it 2-0. Tomberlin carried the puck
out of the corner to the front of the net, faked the shot and slid it to
Ferraro for the easy goal. That was the only easy goal Maine would get
all night, as what looked like an impending slaughter turned around as
quickly as it started.
About two minutes after Ferraro's goal, Merrimack's Guy Ragault was called
for hitting after the whistle, and referee Steve McBride seemed to incur
the wrath of Merrimack coach Ron Anderson with the way he made the call.
McBride blew his whistle, pointed at Ragault several times a la former
baseball umpire Ron Luciano, and was basically very insulting and bush
league in his performance. This is college, not the NHL. As McBride
skated backwards to the scorer's bench, Anderson ran over and gave McBride
a tongue-lashing - I don't know if it was in response to the way he acted,
but if it was, it was well-deserved. That stuff has no place in a
respectable referee's repertoire.
Doneghey kicked away shot after shot on the power play, especially after
Mark Cornforth had gone off to give Maine a 5x3 advantage. Through the
5x3, Maine had an early 11-1 shot advantage, but once Merrimack had killed
off both penalties, the tide shifted. Right after the Cornforth penalty
was up, the line of Gravelle-Fowler-Atkinson was putting on pressure in
the zone, and then Maine defenseman Jason Weinrich was called for cross-
checking when he nailed Fowler from behind. Fowler appeared to be hurt
on the play, but when he turned out to be okay, McBride would not allow
Fowler to start the power play on the ice, presumably because he had
called play due to an apparent injury. With the faceoff deep in the Maine
zone, Fowler had to stand on the bench and the fifth Merrimack skater
stood way back in the Merrimack zone, right near the bench, and as soon
as the puck was dropped he came off and Fowler came on.
Fowler and Atkinson both had great scoring chances that Dunham turned
aside. But then the dangerous Maine shorthand nearly clicked, as
Peter Ferraro and Chris Imes combined for a pretty 2x1 up ice, with
Ferraro shooting the puck wide. But Merrimack came right back, as
Quentin Fendelet fed Mark Goble and then got off, and Goble gave it to
Wayde McMillan at center ice for a mad rush. McMillan blew by the
defenseman and got off a shot that Dunham barely kicked away.
Each team had two more power plays over the rest of the period, but
again both goalies were immense. Doneghey was the more impressive in
the first, as he was clearly on top of his game and made several
amazing saves that kept the game at 2-0 after one. That seemed to give
Merrimack the feeling that they belonged on the ice with Maine, and
they would come out fired up for the second and third periods.
After Merrimack killed off the remainder of a PP early in the second,
they went on one of their own and had three great scoring chances.
Moving the puck around well, Cornforth fed Gravelle who found Atkinson
all alone in the slot, but Dunham made the save. Dunham also came up
huge against Fowler and Atkinson on consecutive point blank shots. Even
up, the Warriors were very successful in forcing the Maine forwards to the
boards and winning the little battles in the corners and along the boards.
Fowler was called for slashing at 6:17, and on the ensuing PP, Maine
scored the eventual game-winner. Doneghey had lost both his stick AND
his blocker, and hadn't yet been given another stick by a teammate,
when Imes' shot from the point whistled by him at 7:05; it was a shot
that Doneghey might have stopped if he'd had a stick.
Maine went on another PP at 8:35 after a penalty to John Barron, and
they were yet again snakebitten. Peter Ferraro hit the post, and several
other players had shots go wide. After the penalty was up, Merrimack
forced the play deep in the Maine zone, with the fourth line of Fendelet,
Barron and Ragault doing extraordinary work in the corners. Fendelet dug
it out and fed Barron behind the net, and Barron quickly found Ragault
in front after Dunham had been drawn to the post to give Ragault an open
net - but Ragault shot it just wide. At this point, a delayed penalty
was being called on Maine, and Merrimack got the extra man on and kept
moving the puck around. Dan Hodge came in from the point and got off a
shot, but his went wide too, and then Maine touched the puck.
The line of Fowler-Gravelle-Naylor was hustling on the power play for
Merrimack, but Dunham continued to play well. Late in the man advantage,
Dunham went behind the net to get the puck, and Gravelle ran into Dunham
while he was trying to get it away - and then Jason Weinrich hit Gravelle
for hitting Dunham. A pile ensued as Weinrich hammered Gravelle into
Dunham, and the goalie was down for a few moments but seemed to be okay.
Maine went up 4-0 at 13:51 when Tomberlin scored his 11th of the year,
Kariya and Peter Ferraro assisting. Doneghey made a brilliant save off
of Kariya on the first shot, as Kariya had wheeled out of the corner and
taken a shot from right in front. Tomberlin put in the rebound, although
it seemed to have come after the whistle - at first, it looked like
McBride was waving off the goal, but then he let it stand. And then he
didn't even know who had scored it, although everyone else in the rink
did; he had to stop and look up and down the Maine bench and then ask
one of the players.
Despite the goal, Merrimack had clearly earned the edge in play by
the halfway point of the period, and this continued when Andy Silverman
went off for slashing at 14:54. Fowler took a low hard shot from the
right circle on the power play, but Dunham made a beautiful right pad save.
Then, with the pressure still on in the zone, Cornforth made a great
move to come in from the point and pounce on a loose puck in front, but
Dunham stopped that one too. Near the end of the period, Maine had a
good shorthanded bid when Maine iced the puck and Kariya beat everyone
to it behind the Merrimack net; he tried to feed Imes in front who was
the trailer, but Imes was tied up by a defender and wasn't able to get
off a good shot - although the shot he did get off, hit the crossbar.
The period ended 4-0 Maine, but could easily have been 4-1 or 4-2.
Maine seemed to come out rather casually in the third, going into
a conservative forecheck and not putting on any pressure. This proved
to be a mistake. Even down 4, Merrimack roared out of the blocks and
took the play to the Black Bears for almost all of the final 20 minutes.
Maine was held without a shot on goal for the first 8 minutes. If Dunham
had not been immense, I think Merrimack would have at least tied the game
and maybe even won.
At 7:22, Maine's Dan Murphy went off for interference, and the Warriors
nearly got on the board right away when McMillan carried up the right
side and fed Martin Favreau in front for what was almost a beautiful
redirection, but Dunham made the pad save. I'm not sure if Maine was
tired from being banged around or if they were intentionally doing this,
but their shorthanded attack was nothing like what it was early on in the
game. That allowed Merrimack to easily move the puck up ice and resulted
in the goal that broke Dunham's shutout at 8:46. Atkinson got the puck
at the right boards in the Maine zone, faked the shot to draw Dunham over
a bit, and then quickly fed Fowler cross ice for what was an open net,
but Fowler shot it just wide. Gravelle got the puck and flipped it in
for his 16th of the year, 10th on the power play, and it was 4-1.
When Merrimack scored again at 11:48, this time even strength, we suddenly
had a game again. Favreau, who played an outstanding game in his first
action in over a month, won the battle along the left boards and fed
McMillan in front all alone. Dunham made a great right pad save on
McMillan's first point-blank shot, but the Merrimack senior gathered up
the rebound and put it by the sprawling goalie for his 15th goal, making
it 4-2, and the place went bonkers.
Merrimack had every guy hustling at this point, and with the way they
continued to take the play to Maine after McMillan's goal, I said to
someone that it might sound crazy, but with the way they're playing, it
really looks like they think they're going to come back and win this thing.
And they nearly did. Doneghey had to make big saves off of Tardif and
LaCouture with 5 and 3 minutes left, but other than that, the best chances
belonged to Merrimack. Favreau's bullet from high in the slot with
a minute and a half left was just blocked by Lee Saunders, and Fowler
nearly crossed up Dunham off the draw with a backhander but couldn't beat
the dufflebag. With Doneghey pulled, Cornforth let go a shot along
the ice from the left point that seemed to take forever as it appeared
headed wide - then it hit a skate in the slot and went towards the vacant
near post - then it hit something else and went just wide. Maine was able
to get the puck out of the zone, but they couldn't add the empty-netter
as Merrimack was quick to get back. Time ran out and Maine left the ice
with the two points, but Merrimack earned an emotional victory as well
as quite a bit of respect in the eyes of the fans and press.
POSTGAME
I came into the game expecting to focus more on the other scores around
the league, since I figured on an easy Maine win tonight. When the third
period rolled around, it seemed like everyone in the rink was on the edge
of their seats, and I'd forgotten about BC-PC and BU-NU.
I'd said to Larry, I think, that what had hurt Merrimack against Maine
before was that they just could not put together the plays the way Maine
does, that they could (I thought) skate with Maine but just weren't as
talented. Except for about the first ten minutes tonight, Merrimack looked
like they *did* belong on the ice with Maine - and there were points where
you had to wonder if Maine belonged on the ice with Merrimack. I do
think that Maine might have come into the game expecting it would be kind
of easy, especially given the results from last November, and that may
have played a part in what happened. It will be interesting to see how
Maine responds tomorrow night, as well as seeing whether Merrimack
comes at Maine again in the same style.
Although I thought Dunham was outstanding, showing that he deserves to be
considered among the best in the country (when his team just couldn't
do it, he was there as the last line of defense - and was needed tonight),
Merrimack goalie Mike Doneghey deserves credit too for keeping the game
close in the first while Maine was pouring on all those shots. If 2 or 3
more of those find their way behind him, it's 4-0 or 5-0 after one and the
last two periods could have been a repeat of the 14-1 game.
Also, give a lot of credit to Merrimack for coming out and not being
intimidated again. Even when Maine was carrying the play early on, they
were being hit and forced to work hard for their chances, something we
did not see Merrimack make them do up in Orono. And instead of standing
around and watching the Black Bears skate, Merrimack gave Maine something
to watch of their own now and then. Merrimack also kept the large Maine
crowd out of the game, which doesn't happen too often.
Maine fans may not (or may) understand this, but the way this game went
was very, very important to the Merrimack program. There were a lot of
people who pointed fingers and ridiculed the team back in November, asking
if they belonged in DivI and so on. This game proved that 1) the very
best teams in the nation can come into the Volpe Complex and Merrimack can
give them a good game, and 2) they do belong. I'll bet Ron Anderson
goes to sleep smiling tonight; I know that afterwards, I commented that I'd
never been so happy to lose a game before. :-)
The teams battle again Saturday night at Merrimack; given tonight's
outcome, a complete sellout (505 short tonight) is a distinct possibility.
BTW, Shawn Walsh was shaking up his lines and defensive pairings in
the third, benching some players and giving others very little time. We
will have to see if he comes back with the same lineup tomorrow night.
---
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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