Brock University from St Catherine's, Ontario, travelled to the
Merrimack Valley this weekend and dropped a pair of exhibitions,
5-1 to UMass-Lowell on Friday and 11-3 to Merrimack tonight.
Friday, October 15, 1993 at Tully Forum, Billerica, MA
EXHIBITION GAME
Brock Badgers 0 0 1 - 1
Mass-Lowell Chiefs 3 1 1 - 5
FIRST PERIOD ML-B
1. ML1, Greg Bullock (David Mayes, Ian Hebert), 9:53. 1-0
2. ML2, Eric Brown (Dave Barozzino), 10:17. GWG 2-0
3. ML3, Barozzino (Hebert, Bullock), 12:38. 3-0
SECOND PERIOD
4. ML4, Normand Bazin (Neil Donovan, Kerry Angus), 1:22. 5x3 4-0
THIRD PERIOD
5. B1, Robert Hildebrandt (Jim McCabe), 14:27. 4-1
6. ML5, Jon Mahoney (Jeff Daw, Christian Sbrocca), 16:29. PPG 5-1
SHOTS ON GOAL: Brock 5--5--4 = 14
Mass-Lowell 14-11-11 = 36
SAVES: Brock, Mike Edwards (59:42, 36 sh-31 sv).
Mass-Lowell, Dwayne Roloson (40:00, 10-10),
Craig Lindsay (20:00, 4-3).
POWER PLAYS: Brock 0 for 8. Mass-Lowell 2 for 7.
PENALTIES: Brock 12/24. Mass-Lowell 13/26.
REFEREES: Jim Fitzgerald, Dennis Hughes. LINESMAN: Andy Hennigar.
ATTENDANCE: 586.
Saturday, October 16, 1993 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
EXHIBITION GAME
Brock Badgers 1 2 0 - 3
Merrimack Warriors 2 5 4 - 11
FIRST PERIOD MC-B
1. MC1, John Jakopin (Quentin Fendelet, Dean Capuano), 2:12. 1-0
2. MC2, Cooper Naylor (Dan Hodge, Ryan Mailhiot), 7:04. 4x3 2-0
3. B1, Clay Martin (unassisted), 18:58. 2-1
SECOND PERIOD
4. MC3, Matt Adams (Naylor), 2:37. 3-1
5. MC4, Tom Johnson (Jim Gibson, Capuano), 3:49. GWG 4-1
6. MC5, Johnson (Gibson, Mailhiot), 8:53. 5-1
7. MC6, Rob Atkinson (Adams, Naylor), 9:27. 6-1
8. MC7, Hodge (Naylor, Atkinson), 13:35. 7-1
9. B2, Darren Macoretta (Chris Sararas), 14:27. PPG 7-2
10. B3, Pete Liptrott (Jamie Golden), 17:08. 7-3
THIRD PERIOD
11. MC8, Claudio Peca (Daryl Krauss, Rob Beck), 2:27. 8-3
12. MC9, Adams (unassisted), 8:29. 9-3
13. MC10, Matt Gallo (Mailhiot, Fendelet), 19:26. 10-3
14. MC11, Beck (Krauss), 19:34. 11-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: Brock 11-12-16 = 39
Merrimack 7-10--9 = 26
SAVES: Brock, Andrew Hamilton (29:55, 11 sh-5 sv),
Patrick DiPronio (30:05, 15-10).
Merrimack, Martin Legault (40:00, 23-20),
Eric Thibeault (16-16).
POWER PLAYS: Brock 1 for 7. Merrimack 2 for 6.
PENALTIES: Brock 13/36. Merrimack 12/39.
REFEREES: Bob Fowkes, John Gravellese. LINESMAN: Chuck Wynters.
ATTENDANCE: 286.
MIKE'S THREE STARS: 1. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (2-1--3).
2. C Tom Johnson, Merrimack (2-0--2).
3. D Steve McKenna, Merrimack (0-0--0).
Things continue to look good for Merrimack, as the Warriors rolled
to the easy win tonight in their final tuneup for the 1993-94 season.
The game was very chippy almost right from the start, but the
Merrimack freshmen (8 in the lineup) impressed with their refusal to
get drawn into the rough stuff and played a key role in the win. 5
goals were scored by freshmen, and both goalies looked very, very good.
At first glance, it's interesting that while Lowell only beat Brock
5-1, Merrimack was able to put 11 goals on the board. But on the
other hand, Lowell held Brock to only 14 shots as opposed to the
Badgers' 39 shots on Merrimack goaltending. A lot of that can be
answered by two things: one, Merrimack plays a much more wide open
game than Lowell. The Warriors' run-and-gun style looks stronger than
it ever has, and the addition of the new freshmen makes Merrimack a
faster team than they have probably ever been. And two, many of
Brock's shots came from outside the quality shot area as the D did a
good job of protecting the goalies and not allowing followup shots.
I hinted at the possibility last week that Merrimack might be severely
underrated in the last-place prognostications, and I'm prepared to go
out on a limb here and now. Recognizing that Brock was playing its
second game in two nights and that Canadian teams don't tend to fare
well against US teams, I still didn't expect a blowout of this magnitude.
Merrimack certainly made the most of its chances, scoring 11 goals
on 26 shots, and many of the goals were of the bang-bang type where
the Warriors skated circles around the opponents and dazzled the crowd.
Tom Johnson skated as second-line center but IMO, he's the Warriors'
best centerman right now. Both of his goals came when he set up in front
and banged home passes. Rob Beck (1-1--2) was impossible to catch and
once he gets the scoring touch he had in juniors, he'll be a force.
Claudio Peca and Daryl Krauss worked well together on a fourth-line that
is more dangerous than Merrimack has had in years, and veterans Matt Adams,
Jim Gibson and Cooper Naylor all combined for three goals and six assists.
On defense, the pairings seem to be working out very well. Jakopin
played with Cornforth and was effective at both ends of the ice. The
other Twin Tower, Steve McKenna, laid out too many bone-crunching
checks to count, and when Brock tried to start something after the
whistle, he was inevitably there to take charge. McKenna (6-8, 225)
just does not go down, and anyone trying to set up in front of the
Merrimack net is going to have to deal with him. The way the pairings
are set, there's one very physical, hard-nosed D and one offensive-
minded D in each pair.
Finally, in net, both Legault and Thibeault, despite being freshmen,
played with the poise of veterans and gave me a very nice feeling
about the future of Merrimack goaltending. Both are very solid and
don't look like they'll give up many easy goals. Legault allowed all
three goals, but one was on a power play and the other two were weird
goals that came off strange bounces. And Thibeault faced 16 shots in
the third, 4-5 quality, and turned them all away. They'll face better
competition starting next week, of course, but if the defense continues
to help them out, I think they'll do well. In looking at how the two
of them play, I don't think Merrimack has had this kind of quality
goaltending come in since the days of Jim Hrivnak. I especially like
the way Legault is constantly barking out orders and warnings to his
teammates. I've never seen a Merrimack goaltender who was this vocal,
and I think it makes a huge difference.
With the season beginning next Saturday at home against UMass, I think
Ron Anderson has to be very happy with how his team looks right now.
We'll probably see the Warriors picked last in HE by the coaches, but
I think there's a good chance they'll finish higher - maybe as high as
5th. This is the fifth season I've been around here and it's the best
I have seen a Merrimack team look at this point in the season. What
will make or break them is if the freshman forwards can come along
and produce some goals (there are threats on every line), and if the
two goalies can step right in and do the job they appear capable of.
I'll take that last place pick because it's very easy to prove people
wrong, and I think opponents will be very surprised when they run into
Merrimack this season.
In other notes, UMass coaches Joe Mallen and Scott McPherson were on
hand to scout in preparation for UMass's first game. I thought UMass
was supposed to play an exhibition against Penn State tonight, but
maybe that was either this afternoon or tomorrow. I also heard that
in the first real game of the HE season, Providence was beating Army
something like 7-2 in the third.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] [log in to unmask]
Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors *HMN* 11/13/93
(All opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)
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