Sean Pickett writes:
>Question:  Who did Merrimack beat for their first HE win? (Mike?)
 
In 1989-90, Merrimack dropped its first three HE games and then
defeated Northeastern on the road, 6-5, in overtime.
 
The teams met again at Merrimack a few weeks later in MC's 7th HE game
and MC won again, 8-4 - the famous brawl game that was called with
about 3 minutes left and resulted in a myriad of suspensions.
 
Merrimack would lose its next 13 HE games, coming within one of tying
the 1985-86 UNH team for the league record, before beating Lowell in
OT in the last game of the season, 10-9 (OT).
 
After going 3-18-0 in HE that first year and finishing 8th, the
Warriors shocked 1st-place BC with a 6-3 win in the second game of the
HE quarterfinals to knot the series at 1-1 before BC won the third
game and the series.
 
Oddly enough, after winning 2 of 3 against NU that first year,
Merrimack came back to sweep the Huskies 3-0-0 in 1990-91.  Combine
that with MC's incredible come-from-behind win in the 1988 NC$$ First
Round over NU and their regular season triumphs over the Huskies in
1987-88 and 1988-89, and the Warriors were an amazing 7-2-0 vs NU from
1987-91.  (The 1988 NC$$ series was a split but went to MC on total
goals, 10-8, after NU held a lead of 8-3 late in the second period of
the second game.)
 
Many who are here know the story of how I suffered tremendously
through that NU loss to Merrimack in the 1988 NC$$s while I was a mgr
of the NU team, and then transferred to enemy Merrimack nine months
later as fate would have it.  It is almost 7 years later, and to this
day, the MC staff and MC trainer Scott Abbey in particular will not
stop reminding me about that game.  Of course, after suffering
through the Mother of All Losses, nothing again could ever be that
bad.  For me, it was worse than the 1986 World Series.  A good friend
of mine, who was an usher in our wedding, played on that NU team and
to this day we have never discussed that game.
 
Needless to say, after having switched sides, I was mildly
schizophrenic the first few years when NU and MC met. :-)
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93