On Friday night, Merrimack took a loss that was kind of hard to swallow for
this Warrior fan.  The game was played at Tully Forum, the home of the
ULowell Chiefs.  ULowell won the game 3-2.  Ironically, both games last year
 
at Tully Forum were won by ULowell.  They were both one goal wins.  On this
night, the Warriors played better as the game went on, and ULowell went
downhill.  If it was not for a stellar performance in net by Mark Richards
for ULowell, the game would have been a MUCH different story.
 
ULowell opened the scoring at 7:08 of the first.  Dave Gatti took a pass from
Shane Henry and put it into the open corner past Merrimack's starting goalie
Steve D'Amore.  The other assist went to Brendan Flynn.
 
At 10:35 of the first, ULowell made it 2-0 on a goal by Tim Smallwood.
Smallwood picked up a loose puck and fired a 30 foot shot past D'Amore for the
2-0 lead.  It was a power play goal.  The assists went to Dave Pensa and Don
Parsons.  I think Steve D'Amore may have hurt himself on this goal.  He was
slow in reacting to the puck.  I may be wrong, maybe he just missed it, but
he seemed slow to react.
 
Before the period closed, Merrimack cut the deficit in half.  Bryan Miller
fired a shot from the point.  The puck hit a Chief defenseman on the way
through and went behind Richards for the goal.  It came at 19:44.  The only
assist went to Cooper Naylor.
 
In the second period, ULowell scored to go ahead 3-1.  The Warriors were
whistled for two penalties just seven seconds apart.  The Chiefs cashed in
on a five on three chance.  Some pretty passing set up an easy shot from the
side of the crease for Dave Gatti.  He banged the puck past Mike Doneghey, who
took over for D'Amore to start the period.  The assists went to Brendan Flynn
and Don Parsons.  It came at the 7:15 mark.
 
The final goal of the game came with 16:17 gone in the third.  Dan Gravelle
won a face-off for the Warriors in the Chiefs end.  The puck rolled to Rob
Atkinson, who had the puck behind Richards in a hurry.  I wonder if Richards
knew that the puck had been dropped.  It was in the net in a hurry!
 
To take nothing away from a stellar effort by Mark Richards, he did have plenty
of luck.  By my count Merrimack hit four posts.  Other people have told me
it was only three.  Howie Rosenblatt hit 2, Agostino Casale hit one, and I
can't remember the fourth.  Still, Richards saved the game for Lowell with
two minutes left when John Barron let go a hard slap shot from 20 feet.  The
crowd was sure that the puck had gone in, but Richards somehow reached in back
of him to rob Merrimack of the tie.
 
 
Scoring by Periods:
 
ULowell     2   1   0     -   3
Merrimack   1   0   1     -   2
 
 
Shots on Goal:
 
ULowell    10  10   4     -  24
Merrimack  10   6  18     -  34
 
 
Saves:
Richards    9   6  17     -  32
D'Amore     8   0   0     -   8  (pulled after first period)
Doneghey    0   9   4     -  13  (started second period)
 
 
Thats all folks, good luck to our boys in the Gulf.
 
Kevin
 
E-Mail MIGHT reach me at:
 
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"You can still Rock in America"  - Night Ranger