at BC 3, Mass Lowell 1
UNH 8 at PC 3
 
BU 5 at Merrimack 4
Worst officiated game I've seen this season.  Maybe ever.  OK,
definitely ever.  Too bad because it obscured what was otherwise an
exciting game played between these two teams that seem to be becoming
bitter rivals, and you know how rarely I complain about the
officiating.
 
You know things are bad when with 1:31 left, Merrimack draws a penalty
and pulls the goalie to still have 5 skaters - and referee Rich Fowkes
complains about the extra player until MC's Dan Hodge has to tell him
that hey, we pulled the goalie!
 
BU was 4 of *16* on the power play.  Merrimack was 1 of 11.  Merrimack
drew 25 penalties for 50 minutes to BU's 23 for 50.  Near the end of
the first period, BU coach Jack Parker was ejected by referee Scott
Leavitt after the two got into a shouting match - it was like an
argument between an umpire and a manager.  Strange situation -
Merrimack's Cornforth had hammered a BU player (Friedman?) after the
whistle and somehow it looked like Prendergast was going to get called
instead of Friedman.  Prendergast must have said the no-no word
because he was immediately hit with a misconduct - AND a game
misconduct (not a DQ).  Parker was upset that Prendergast was run
without warning, and he ended up getting a bench minor and game
misconduct too.  Assistant coach Dave Silk finished out the game
coaching the team.  However, I was amazed that 1) Leavitt ran
Prendergast as quickly as he did, 2) Leavitt ran Parker for what
seemed like a minor incident, and 3) Leavitt engaged in a heated
shouting match with Parker, having to be restrained by fellow referee
Fowkes.
 
Anyway, the game...box will come sometime, probably Sun, but some
details.  BU led 2-1 after one on 2 PPGs.  Merrimack went up 3-2 in
the second before BU tied it on a goal I thought should have been
disallowed.  On the power play, Joubert set up in front of the net and
as the puck came to Coleman at the left circle, Joubert laid a
two-hander on Merrimack D Dan Hodge's back, pushing Hodge away from
the night long enough for Joubert to screen Legault uncontested and
for Coleman to fire the puck past Legault.  Leavitt was right there to
see the penalty and the goal, and he refused to make the obvious call.
The problem with this was that up until this moment of the second,
Leavitt and Fowkes had set the stage by calling everything very
tightly, even to the point of being ridiculous.  Letting Joubert's
infraction go was very inconsistent.
 
Of course, the officiating was brutal for both sides tonight.  There
was one situation in the second where players were literally brawling
yet play continued.  I still don't know how it didn't break out into
one of those free for alls.
 
Cornforth, who had two goals tonight, scored his second 4:00 into the
third to put Merrimack up 4-3.  But the penalties continued, and BU's
Brennan tied it on yet another power play halfway through the period,
Brennan's 2nd of the game.  Mike Grier got a huge cheer from the BU
section when he scored the eventual winner with 7:48 left.
 
With 48 penalties called tonight, and the teams scheduled to tangle
again down at BU Saturday, almost everyone I talked to afterward was
concerned that this final meeting of the regular season between
the teams could turn into a bloodbath.  Let's hope not.
 
For Merrimack, after such a poor showing last weekend, it seemed that
things had turned 180 degrees by tonight.  The freshman forwards who
had been so quiet were flying everywhere and came up with two big
goals (Beck, Johnson).  Legault was amazing.  Credit BU goalie J.P.
McKersie too, despite allowing four goals he earned the #1 star by
making big save after big save down the stretch.  From the Merrimack
view, this is one of those games you don't mind losing...though the
players themselves clearly thought they lost a game they should have
won.
 
Tomorrow, I'll look for BU's forwards who were kept virtually
scoreless tonight (Pandolfo - 0-1--1; Joubert - 0-1--1; Thornton,
Pomichter, Friedman 0-0--0) to break out in front of the home crowd.
 
BU is 17-5-0, 11-3-0 HE.  Merrimack drops to 9-13-2, 2-10-2 HE.
---                                                                 ---
Mike Machnik                                          [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                  *HMM* 11/13/93
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