Thanks to Rick McAdoo for his BC-UML report.  I couldn't be there but caught
most of the game on NESN tape.  Here are my comments.
 
>
> UMass-Lowell carried more of the play in the 1st period and got
> much better scoring chances.  The first goal came on a defensive
> breakdown by BC, leaving Concannon unmolested for a shot from the
> left side.
 
Concannon had shot and swerved to the right.  The BC defense then ignored him
the puck went to the left and other players entered the slot.  He was free to
cut in and deflect a shot.
 
> The second period was much more even; BC's Harney got credit for
> the 2nd BC goal, though I thought it got deflected by Jim Krayer;
> it may have been the defenseman's stick.
 
Replays showed it was defenseman Jason Cormier's stick.
 
> At the 5:28 mark, things
> got interesting.  BC was on a power play after Cormier had taken
> a hooking call when BC's Brian Callahan got slammed headfirst into
> the boards in the right corner by Botto, and appeared to be shaken
> up.  While the delayed penalty on Botto was waiting to be called,
> Brian's linemate and older brother Greg Callahan took exception to
> the hit and charged after Botto, causing a pileup in the corner.
> Greg used his stick to spear someone on the ice (Botto?)  In the
> meantime Brian Callahan had recovered enough to join the fray, and
> he and UML's Aaron Kriss got matching roughing penalties.  Greg
> Callahan was ejected from the game as well as getting the 5 minute
> spearing major and a 2 minute roughing minor.  The net result was
> a short 4-on-3 for BC, followed by :30 at 4-on-4, followed by a
> 3:00 power play for UML.  The game got a little more physical as
> both teams were on edge.  BC's Hymovitz put BC ahead on their
> power play, but Lowell was able to equalize during their 3:00
> major.  BC has had major problems with untimely penalties and
> weakness on the special teams, while playing most teams fairly even
> at full strength.  UML, of course, is strong on the power play with
> Bullock, Daw, Sbrocca, etc.
>
 
the interesting thing is that they gave Botto the boarding penalty after the
spear and the fracus, but they weren't going to give it to him until the other
problems.  It was a deserved boarding.
 
> The third period was lively though no goals were scored; play was
> up-and-down with a few matching penalties.  With BC needing the
> equalizer, an opportunity seemed to appear late when UML's Greg
> Bullock, upset at a whistle stopping play, fired the puck into the
> side boards and got called for a penalty.  The crowd got noisy
> anticipating a power play, and Bullock chased after the referee to
> get a clarification.  After a brief discussion at center ice, he
> seemed to be satisfied (no doubt after finding that the penalty
> was a misconduct, so he was not causing his team to play short-
> handed.)  As he wheeled away to go to the box, BC captain (and
> senior, who should know better) Jerry Buckley "casually" clipped
> Bullock with an elbow.  Cole immediately signaled a penalty on
> Buckley, and BC was left to kill a penalty rather than be able to
> lift the goalie for a man advantage.
 
This wasn't the first time a Buckley stupid penalty hurt BC.  For a senior and
a captain, he's got to start using his brain.
 
>
> It is always hard to argue with Bullock and Taylor as part of the
> three stars, but several of us in the stands felt that the UML
> goaltender, freshman Scott Fankhouser, played very well.  Both he
> and Taylor made some great glove saves.  According to the UML stat
> sheet, this was Fankhouser's first Hockey East win.
>
 
Agreed.  Fankhouser moves to number one on the UML goalie depth chart.  Which
could be the best news for UML in this game.
 
>
> Bruce Crowder has joined the ranks of several other coaches in
> requesting that 3rd periods at BC be played in 2 10-minute halves,
> with the teams switching ends, to avoid perceived advantages
> (disadvantages?) with the non-symmetric benches at Kelley Rink.  Do
> other teams/rinks/coaches go through this???
>
 
And interestingly enough this took away a UML breakaway as the 10:00 break
hit.
 
> Please forgive me if this is too much for one message, but I wanted
> to be as thorough as possible in my first post.  Looking forward to
> any comments or feedback from one and all!
>
 
Good job.  Keep it up.
 
BTW, in the sense of fairness, I must say that after lambasting Gamere for
mispronunciation, it was frustrating to hear Bob Norton refer to Fankhouser
as Frankhouser for virtually the entire game.  And his sidekick (can't remember
the name off the top of my head) referred to Basaraba as Barasaba.  This lasted
only a period.  On the other hand, there were positives from these two that
Gamere can only imagine so they didn't descend into Gamere-land, but they
should have done better.
 
Crowder mentioned yesterday that since this was a PRIME game and it was going
nationwide to US and Canada, it was a big recruiting game, so from the UML
perspective it was good to see a win.
 
DaveH