Saturday, November 12, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
New Hampshire Wildcats (5-3-0, 2-2-0 0 HE) 0 3 1 - 4
Merrimack Warriors (1-6-1, 1-2-1 1 HE) 1 2 0 - 3
FIRST PERIOD NH-MC
1. MC1, Martin Laroche 3 (Gaetan Poirier, John Jakopin), 10:53. 0-1
SECOND PERIOD
2. NH1, Eric Flinton 3 (Ted Russell), 4:47. PPG 1-1
3. MC2, Rob Beck 2 (unassisted), 10:42. SHG 1-2
4. NH2, Todd Hall 1 (Dean Woodman, Steve Pleau), 11:27. PPG 2-2
5. MC3, Beck 3 (Mark Cornforth, Eric Weichselbaumer), 16:38. 5x3 2-3
6. NH3, Pleau 3 (Eric Boguniecki), 18:35. 3-3
THIRD PERIOD
7. NH4, Flinton 4 (Kent Schmidtke, Eric Royal), 3:00. PPG GWG 4-3
SHOTS ON GOAL: New Hampshire 12--8--9 = 29
Merrimack 13--7--7 = 27
SAVES: NH, Mike Heinke (W, 4-1-0, 60:00, 27 sh-24 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (L, 1-5-1, 58:24, 29 sh-25 sv).
POWER PLAYS: NH 3 for 6. MC 2 for 4.
PENALTIES: NH 6/20. MC 8/24.
REFEREES: Drew Taylor, Dennis Hughes. LINESMAN: Steve Arnold.
ATTENDANCE: 2,137 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. LW Eric Flinton, UNH (2-0--2, GWG).
2. LW Rob Beck, Merrimack (2-0--2).
3. RW Eric Boguniecki, UNH (0-1--1).
Eric Flinton's power play goal three minutes into the third period
snapped a 3-3 tie and sent UNH on to a 4-3 win at Merrimack,
sweeping the weekend set between the two teams. The goal was the
second of the game for Flinton, both on the power play.
It was the second straight come from behind win for the Wildcats,
as they trailed 3-2 late in the second before Steve Pleau tied it
with 1:25 left in the period.
Penalty killing, or lack of it, again did in the Warriors, as they
surrendered 3 PPGs to UNH on 6 chances. Merrimack fell to 1-6-1
overall, with 5 of the six losses being effectively one goal games
(an ENG by Colgate made that game a two-goal margin). The Warriors'
penalty killing in HE is absolutely pitiful - through four games,
they have killed only 18 of 31 opportunities, 58.1%.
The game was pretty evenly played, but when the chips were down,
UNH was able to contain Merrimack in the third. Merrimack held
leads of 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 before UNH bounced back to win.
Rob Beck contributed two big goals for Merrimack, one SHG and one
PPG. But after Beck's SHG made it 2-1 halfway through the third,
UNH came right back to score on the same man advantage just 45
seconds later to tie it up again. Todd Hall scored his first goal
as a Wildcat on that play as the junior transfer's shot through a
screen from the blue line found nothing but net.
Again for UNH, the Pleau-Sullivan-Boguniecki line was the most
effective. Pleau impresses me more and more each time I see him.
The junior from Seabrook, NH, now has 3-5--8 on the year. His
determination and hard work is something any team could use.
Merrimack continues to struggle and be unable to hold onto a lead.
The Warriors are mired in a 1-13-1 streak dating back to last season,
and the biggest reason for that is poor defense and poor penalty
killing. They are in serious danger of falling too far off the
pace, with the next three games coming against Lowell and NU (2).
In fact, if BC is able to at least tie Maine Sunday, Merrimack will
have fallen from 3rd to 8th place in the matter of one weekend.
Once again, Merrimack got great support from the fans, with an
attendance of 2,137. The last time Merrimack drew over 2,000 at
home was for each game of a series with Maine early last year -
11 home games have been played since then. Merrimack has not drawn
over 2,000 at home for a non-Maine game in over three years - 11/6/91
against BC. The fans were vocal, too, once again - as the final
seconds ticked away with UNH about to win, the UNH fans started
chanting "U-N-H" and were immediately drowned out by chants of
"Mer-ri-mack", something I don't think I have ever seen happen.
Unfortunately, the team is still winless at home - 0-2-1. These
fans deserve better than that.
The Warriors next take on the Mass Lowell Bullocks in a Tuesday night
game at Merrimack; the game will be on WNDS-TV50. UNH prepares for a
home and home with BC, with Friday's game (11/18) coming at the JFK
Coliseum in Manchester, NH.
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Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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