Saturday 10/17 - Houston Field House, Troy,NY
officials: Noeth referee, Emanatian,Cadman- assistant referee
attendance- 4439
period 1
0:20 P RPI Murray (hooking)
0:34 P BU Ronan (trip)
2:22 G BU (0-1) Degerman(O'Connell,Sheen) ppg
5:09 P BU Heron (rough)
5:09 P RPI McPherson (rough)
7:59 P RPI James (hitting from behind)
12:35 G BU (0-2) O'Connell(Gillis,Vuori)
15:16 G RPI (1-2) Murley(Pothier)
period 2
4:36 P BU Sheen (high stick)
4:36 P RPI Murphy (high stick)
10:03 P BU Vuori (hold)
10:50 G RPI (2-2) St. Hilaire(Riva,Tapper)
12:23 P RPI Munn (cross-check)
15:56 P BU 25 (hold)
period 3
0:46 P RPI Munn (interference)
2:34 P BU Bartlett (hook)
6:56 P RPI Murphy (hold)
9:41 P BU 5 (hold)
11:03 P RPI bench minor (unsportsmanlike conduct)
12:38 G BU (2-3) Heron(Bartlett,Corrazzini) ppg
14:19 G RPI (3-3) Riva(Murley,Gardiner)
OT
3:53 G RPI (4-3) Riva(Coupal)
saves 1 - 2 - 3 - ot - total
RPI(Laing) 12 -12 - 10- 1 - 35
BU(Larocque) 4 - 6 - 13- 2 - 25
My apologies about the game stats. When I take notes, I copy
jersey numbers not names. When I got home, I discovered that
there are no BU rosters posted that have jersey numbers.
I put together something from last years roster but I had
no idea which freshman wore what. For those I was unsure of,
I just inserted the jersey number above.
The last time I saw BU, I was sitting in the upper deck
of the Pepsi Arena above Michel Larocque when UNH
ended BU's season. The BU team I saw tonight is not that team,
but anyone who underestimates a Jack Parker team is making
a big mistake. The depth of last year's team is not there, yet.
The consistency of last years team is not there, yet. But the raw
speed and skill that BU always seems to find is there. How soon
they can get in sync and play like a team will determine whether
BU finishes 4th or 5th in Hockey East or whether they are
challenging for the top spot.
RPI came into tonight's game as a big question mark also.
They were preseason number 1 last year and could not get
any kind of consistency. They bowed out of the ECAC quarterfinals
last year, losing to Cornell at home. This year's team lost
most of their defensemen and All-American Eric Healey to
graduation. They also lost second leading scorer Matt Garver who
mysteriously transferred to Division 3 RIT. What they kept was
freshman sensation Brad Tapper and highly regarded recruit,
Matt Murley who grew up in Troy although he's played the last several
years in Syracuse. Murley was heavily recruited, highly touted
and frankly has been put in a high pressure situation playing in front
of family and friends for his first Div 1 college game.
Murley was tenuous and noticeably nervous in the first period.
The whole RPI team was out of sync and couldn't really get anything
going. BU had played against a the University of Windsor
last week and they had that one game under game conditions that
RPI didn't have.
After spotting BU 2 goals in the first period, RPI finally got on the
board when defenseman Brian Pothier grabbed the puck at the red line,
poked it ahead to Matt Murley who broke in alone on Larocque. Murley
handled the puck well and deked Larocque to the ground as he slipped
it past the netminder to get RPI on the scoreboard. That seemed to be
what Murley needed to break the first game jitters. He played the rest of
the game with poise and confidence. This kid has the potential to be
outstanding.
At 10:03 of the second period, RPI went on a power play, and Coach
Dan Fridgen put 5 forwards out on the ice to try to get the equalizer.
47 seconds later, RPI tied the score on a nifty passing play from Danny
Riva to Brad Tapper to Alaine St. Hilaire who was standing unmolested
to Larocque's left. Alaine beat Larocque over the shoulder to tie the
score at 2.
At 11:03 of the 3rd, assistant referee Mike Emanatian called a bench minor
on RPI for unsportsmanlike conduct. No one was quite sure what
happened but someone must have said somethinbg on the bench that Emanatian
took exception to. At 12:38, while still on the power play, the RPI
defense turned the puck over at their blue line and BU broke in 4 on 2
beating Laing for the go ahead goal, putting BU up 3-2. To RPI's credit,
they did not fold. RPI started putting on the pressure. Less than 2 minutes
later, RPI broke into the BU zone 3 on 1. Larocque made a spectacular
sprawling save but couldn't control the puck. Pete Gardiner grabbed the
puck from alongside the net and pushed it into the corner where Matt Murley
picked it up, sidestepped a BU dfenseman and found Danny Riva in front
with a pass that Riva put past Larocque to tie the game at 3.
At that point, both teams seemed to decide that it was more important
not to lose than it was to win. Both teams went into defensive shells
as the clock ran down. The 3rd ended 3-3.
However, when the overtime started, it became obvious very quickly that
neither team would settle for a tie. In the first minute of OT,
BU coughed up the puck at their own blue line twice giving the Engineers
odd man breaks that would have ended the game were it not for some
sparkling goaltending by Larocque. Then, in the second minute of OT,
BU broke out of their zone and wound up with 2 on 1 breaks twice
that could have ended the game were it not for equally outstanding
stops by RPI netminder Joel Laing. Finally, with just over a minute
left in the game, BU turned the puck over in center ice. RPI defenseman
Glenn Coupal pushed the puck ahead and Danny Riva broke in with George
Murray 2 on 1. The BU defenseman played the pass, as he should, and Riva
beat Larocque on the short side for the victory.
A few observations:
BU's strength is in their speed. They continually broke out sending a
wing up the side while one or more forwards went streaking up
the middle to get in scoring position. Their timing is still a little off.
The Degerman-O'Connell line is good but their other lines need to
get some more playing time together. When that happens, BU is going to be
tough. BU is also real good at cycling people through the slot to create
scoring chances, something RPI would be well suited at imitating.
Dan Fridgen made a preseason statement that RPI was going to concentrate
more on defense this year. At times, this was apparent. RPI used the boards
effectively and Brad Tapper hit everything in sight that looked like a
Terrier. When RPI was forechecking, they took the game away from BU.
However, they didn't forecheck consistently. Unlike BU, RPI did not
break quickly out of their zone. Rather they set up in their own zone and
moved up ice together. However, in the last 2 periods, RPI did manage
to control the center ice and kept the BU defensemen backing into their zone.
RPI needs to cycle their forwards through the slot more. They handled
the puck well in the offensive zone but never got rebounds because no-one
was in the slot to get one.
One game is too soon to make any predictions as tempting as it may be.
RPI is a big unknown this year. But so far, I like what I see.
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.
|
