Friday, March 3, 1995 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston College Eagles (11-20-2, 8-13-2 HE 8th) 4 2 0 - 6
Merrimack Warriors (14-17-5, 7-12-5 HE 7th) 0 2 2 - 4
FIRST PERIOD BC-MC
1. BC1, Ryan Haggerty 22 (Tom Ashe, Jamie O'Leary), 1:33. 1-0
2. BC2, Don Chase 17 (Tim Lewis), 11:08. 2-0
3. BC3, Ashe 4 (Jerry Buckley, O'Leary), 15:09. 3-0
4. BC4, O'Leary 5 (unassisted), 17:13. SHG 4-0
SECOND PERIOD
5. MC1, Matt Adams 22 (Casey Kesselring, John Jakopin), 14:09. PPG 4-1
6. BC5, Chase 18 (David Hymovitz), 15:33. GWG 5-1
7. BC6, Hymovitz 21 (O'Leary), 18:12. 6-1
8. MC2, Dan Hodge 3 (Mark Cornforth, Martin Laroche), 19:27. 5x3 6-2
THIRD PERIOD
9. MC3, Rob Beck 12 (Cornforth, Hodge), 2:57. 5x3 6-3
10. MC4, Kesselring 14 (Cornforth, Hodge), 16:12. PPG 6-4
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 11--7-12 = 30
Merrimack 11-18--7 = 36
SAVES: BC, Greg Taylor (W, 11-17-2, 60:00, 36 sh-32 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (L, 9-14-4, 59:10, 30 sh-24 sv).
POWER PLAYS: BC 0 for 5. MC 4 for 9.
PENALTIES: BC 10/20. MC 6/12.
REFEREES: John Gravallese, Jim Villandry. LINESMAN: John Jones.
ATTENDANCE: 1,388 (capacity 3,617).
THREE STARS: 1. C Jamie O'Leary, Boston College (1-3--4, GWG).
2. C Don Chase, Boston College (2-0--2).
3. D Mark Cornforth, Merrimack (0-3--3).
In a game with implications on the final standings for both teams,
Boston College exploded out of the gate with four goals in the first
period on the strength of freshman Jamie O'Leary's 1-2--3 in the stanza,
and the Eagles held on for a 6-4 win at Merrimack.
With the win, BC dashed Merrimack's hopes of finishing 6th, as Providence
defeated UMass-Lowell 7-0 to move into 6th. The Eagles can finish 6th
with a win at BU Saturday, setting up a quarterfinal matchup with UNH
on Thursday, March 9. Else, they will finish 8th and host 9th place
UMass-Amherst on Tuesday, March 7, with the winner to play at 1st place
Maine on Saturday, March 11.
Merrimack will finish 8th and host UMass-Amherst instead if BC beats
BU. Else, the Warriors will finish 7th and play at BU on Sunday, March 12.
Don Chase also had two goals for the Eagles, and David Hymovitz and
newly-converted winger Tom Ashe each had 1-1--2. For Merrimack, which
scored all of its four goals on the power play, Mark Cornforth had 3
assists, Dan Hodge had 1-2--3, and Casey Kesselring had 1-1--2.
I was asked to include the BC lineup, so here it is:
Brian Callahan Don Chase David Hymovitz
Ryan Haggerty Jamie O'Leary Tom Ashe
Clifton McHale Michael McCarthy Timmy Lewis
Rob Laferriere Jim Krayer Rob Canavan
Greg Callahan Brad Carlson
Peter Masters Jerry Buckley
David Wainwright Ken Hemenway
Greg Taylor
For completeness, this was the Merrimack lineup:
Rob Beck Martin Laroche Claudio Peca
Daryl Krauss Casey Kesselring Matt Adams
Tom Johnson Gaetan Poirier John Jakopin
Mark Goble Chris Davis Ryan Mailhiot
Mark Cornforth Eric Weichselbaumer
Steve McKenna Karl Infanger
Tom Costa Dan Hodge
Martin Legault
PREGAME
As this was the final regular season home game for Merrimack, the
seven seniors were introduced prior to normal introductions. Those
players were Adams, Cornforth, Davis, Goble, and Hodge, as well as
two players not dressed, Chris Ross and Mike Ceppi.
FIRST
This was the first game back for the BC players after their one game
suspension last week, and they were clearly determined to show something.
As well, BC had looked very bad in two recent losses to Merrimack, so
there was something for the team as a whole to prove. Merrimack was
coming off of a tough loss at BU and could wrap up 6th by not losing,
so the Warriors had reason to be sparked as well.
However, it was BC who came out flying and dominated play at both ends
for the entire period despite shots being even at 11-11. The Eagles
hustled and worked to get to loose pucks, playing tough physical hockey
in front of goaltender Taylor and taking advantage of miscues by the
Warrior defense.
The Eagles got on the board just 1:33 in on a 2x1 when Ashe drew the
D to him, then rang one off the pipe. Legault was out of position for
the rebound, and Haggerty easily rapped it in for the senior's 22nd goal
of the year to make it 1-0. This came right after Merrimack had a two
shot flurry stopped by Taylor at the other end. O'Leary picked up his
first assist of the night on the goal as he started the play to Ashe.
Merrimack was a step behind the Eagles for the first half of the period,
but when Jakopin hammered Hymovitz with a heavy but clean check at
center ice, it seemed to give the team a spark they sorely needed. But
it turned out to be BC who responded with more inspired play, and the
result was another goal at 11:08. Chase took a pass from Lewis and was
1x1 with a defender, but he deked the D nicely and cut in front for
an open shot at Legault. But Chase is a goal scorer and rather than
take the quick shot that Legault might have stopped, he made another
nice move to fake Legault and score his 17th of the year.
A penalty to Merrimack followed, but Merrimack did a good job killing
it off with fine work by Adams and Goble who worked a 2x1 - but BC
defended well and thwarted the attempt.
The Haggerty-O'Leary-Ashe line, newly constructed for this game, was
the best of the game for BC and they converted again at 15:09 for a
3-0 lead. Buckley, switched to defense last week, took a shot from
the blue line. Ashe was in front untouched and deflected it into
Legault's pads, but Legault could not control the rebound and Ashe
banged it in for only his 4th goal. O'Leary picked up another helper.
At this point, Merrimack knew they were in trouble. BC had built
confidence and Taylor, though not facing a lot of quality shots, had
stopped everything he'd faced and is good enough that given a lead,
he can hold on. A BC penalty seemed to give Merrimack a chance to
get back in it - until a horrible miscue in their own end on the
breakout allowed O'Leary to score shorthanded and give BC a huge 4-0
lead.
Trying to work the puck D to D at the top of the circles in front of
Legault, the Warriors let the puck slip away and it went to the side
boards, where O'Leary on the one-man-in forecheck collected it for what
should have been a harmless attempt. But the Merrimack D had been
caught too far up in their zone on the breakout, and O'Leary had a full
head of steam. He zigzagged in front for a sudden 1x0 and put it past
Legault with just 20 seconds remaining on the Merrimack power play.
From a Merrimack standpoint, this was certainly the worst of the four
goals BC scored in the period and would come back to haunt MC later.
SECOND
There was still a lot of hockey left to be played, and down 4-0,
Merrimack certainly got a good tongue-lashing in the locker room and
responded with an inspired second period. Killing a penalty early,
Davis gave the Warriors a glimmer of hope when he stole the puck in
front for a good bid, but Taylor turned him aside nicely.
BC regrouped for several good bids over the next few minutes, but
the Warriors were playing improved team defense and held the fort well.
O'Leary flew up ice with the puck for a near breakaway, but he could
not pull the trigger on a bouncing puck and was forced wide by the D.
Then it was Legault's turn to shine, as he robbed Hymovitz on a power
play blast headed for the top corner and then saved a shot tipped by
Brian Callahan.
Taylor kept the shutout going on a Merrimack power play with three
quick saves off of Cornforth, Adams, and Jakopin, with Jakopin's blast
headed for the top corner a carbon copy of the one Legault stopped by
Hymovitz - and Taylor made as nice of a glove save. In an ensuing
scramble in front, BC's Jim Krayer was down and then helped off while
favoring his leg. I do not recall if he returned, although he did go
to the bench and not the locker room.
The pressure finally paid off for Merrimack at 14:09 on the power play
as Adams got the Warriors on the board with his 22nd goal. Jakopin's
shot from the point was deflected and it came to Kesselring, who made
a nice cross-ice feed to Adams for the quick score. That made it 4-1.
But with play clearly going Merrimack's way, it would be a strange goal
that killed the Warriors and would become the game-winner. It came
off the stick of Chase, who had skated up the left side and, played
tightly by the D, attempted a normally harmless dump-in headed about 20
feet wide of Legault. But it deflected off Dan Hodge's skate in front
and went past Legault for Chase's second of the game and a 5-1 lead. It
was a sign that the breaks were going BC's way, and it came just 1:24
after the Adams goal, severely affecting the momentum the Warriors had
built.
Laroche hit the post for Merrimack with two and a half minutes left,
and then BC came back to score its 6th goal with 1:48 left in the
period. On a 2x1, O'Leary drew the D and fed Hymovitz for an easy
goal, his 21st. At this point, some of the home crowd packed it in
and went home.
Merrimack got a golden opportunity of a 5x3 in the final minute of the
period, and they took advantage to keep their hopes alive heading into
the third. Laroche won the draw back to Cornforth, who passed over
to Hodge for a screen shot from the blue line that Taylor didn't see,
Hodge's 3rd of the year.
But BC still held a commanding 6-2 lead after two, and even though
they had been outshot 18-7 in the period, they matched the Warriors'
two second period goals with two of their own. Merrimack also out-
attempted BC 24-10 in the period and had their chances.
THIRD
After a pair of early penalties to BC, Merrimack had another 5x3, and
again, they capitalized. Laroche won it back to Hodge, who passed
over to Cornforth for a blast that went just wide. But as it came
back off the end boards, Beck was there to put it in for his 12th
at 2:57 and it was 6-3. That goal came only five seconds into the
two-man advantage, but BC killed off the back end of the power play
even though the Warriors had good puck movement and got off a few
solid shots; Taylor was equal to them all.
With five straight minors having been called on BC going back to
the second period, the next one was bound to come against Merrimack,
and it did at 11:36. But the best chance to make it interesting
came when Laroche sent Beck in on a shorthanded breakaway - a goal would
have pulled the Warriors within two, and Beck has two SHG on the year.
But Taylor came out to challenge him and forced Beck to shoot wide,
one of the key plays of the game.
Still, a BC penalty with 4:13 left kept Merrimack's hopes alive, and
they finally got that fourth goal on the power play with 3:48 left
when Kesselring deflected Hodge's shot past Taylor to make it 6-4.
A penalty to Merrimack followed just 17 seconds after the goal, and
that was just about enough for BC to hold on. Merrimack would pull
Legault for a sixth attacker in the final minute, but BC clogged the
neutral zone well and the Warriors were unable to score again as
BC held on for the win.
POSTGAME
As I said, this was certainly an inspired showing by BC, from Taylor
on out. The Eagles had fallen behind Merrimack early in the prior
two meetings between the teams, but tonight, they came out strong
and worked very hard to build the 4-0 lead in the first period. After
that, it almost seemed as if BC had decided that was enough and had
entrusted the lead to Taylor, and he made the big saves in the second
and third to prove himself worthy. I would have given him a star
instead of Chase for his play tonight, because when Merrimack had
the momentum and was pressing, he was right there to turn them away.
Taylor did allow four goals tonight, but all were PPGs and two were
5x3 goals. I don't think he can be blamed on any of them.
O'Leary stepped up his play tonight and played well with linemates
Haggerty and Ashe. I also thought Brian Callahan had a superb game
at both ends of the ice. And the way the BC defense shut Merrimack
down in the first deserves mention, although they also got help from
the forwards who created scoring chances by getting back to break
up plays. Jerry York can be very proud of the way his team played
in a game that meant a lot both for the final standings and for the
team's self-esteem.
Obviously, it was a disappointing showing for Merrimack in their final
regular season home game of the year. The loss gives Merrimack a
terrible 5-7-4 home record for 1994-95, and you will not go far if
you cannot defend your home ice. It was most disappointing to see
how the team did not respond early to the intensity displayed by BC
from the get-go. It was as if the earlier wins over BC set a bad tone
for Merrimack entering this game, because they played very nonchalantly
in the first as if the game should have been easier than it was.
To their credit, Merrimack did answer the bell in the second with a
great period and they played well in the third, too. I think the
strange way the Chase goal was scored took a lot of wind out of their
sails, because it led to the Hymovitz goal soon afterwards that made
it 6-1. If they had held the fort and gotten the late second period
goal to make it 4-2, things could have become quite interesting in a
hurry.
But as has been the case in many of Merrimack's losses this year, one
bad period did them in, even though they may have outplayed the
opponent in the other two. This is where the lack of scoring comes
in. They simply do not have the ability to surrender several goals
to a team and make them up. Defensive errors in the first cost them
dearly, as the Warriors just did not pay attention to the little
things that have put them in a position to win games in the past.
A solid 60 minute defensive effort is needed all the time.
Legault did not shine IMO in net tonight, as Round 3 certainly goes
to Taylor. Legault cannot be blamed on all of the goals, but somehow
he didn't seem himself tonight. I suppose that was bound to happen
after playing eight straight games in which he allowed 3 goals or less.
But on the plus side, I have always seen Legault rebound from a less-
than-spectacular outing with a mind-numbing performance in the game
immediately following. Since the playoffs are up next, past history
seems to be on his side and he is bound to be determined to make up
for tonight.
Mark Cornforth did not have a very good first period, but he more
than made up for that with a superb final two periods in which he
notched three assists in trying his best to bring the team back from
the dead. And he almost succeeded, too. He logged a lot of ice time
in the third and deserved a star for his heroic effort. Dan Hodge
also played very well, and it seemed unfair that the game-winning
goal was one that went in off his skate. He deserved better.
NEXT
BC closes the regular season at BU Saturday night. Earlier, I outlined
the ramifications of a BC win or non-win. They will either draw
UMass-Amherst in the 8 vs 9 game Tuesday if they do not beat BU, or play
UNH on Thursday in the quarterfinals if they do beat BU.
This was the final game of the regular season for Merrimack, who will
wait to see what BC does against BU. The Warriors will either host
UMass-Amherst Tuesday (if BC beats BU), or they will travel to BU next
Sunday (if BC doesn't beat BU). Even if BC doesn't pull the upset,
Merrimack will still have 9 days to think about this loss and about
a quarterfinal meeting with BU. They have still played three very good
games against BU this year, two at BU including a win, so there is
reason to believe they are capable of bouncing back and giving BU all
they can handle.
But unless they pull the huge upset in the quarterfinals and get to the
Garden, it is clear that as I feared, the one win over BU in January
will be the center of the highlight tape this season. That is something
I would think the five seniors who played their final regular season
home game tonight would certainly rather not have happen.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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