In a game played Friday in North Andover, MA, the Merrimack College Warrior
hockey team played to a nine to eight loss.  This game pointed up the
biggest weakness for Merrimack, goaltending.
 
Western Michigan opened the scoring at 4:11 of the first period, when Colin
Ward beat Merrimack starting goalie Steve D'Amore.  The assis went to Lynn
Zimmerman.
 
Western Michigan made it two to nothing when Mike Eastwood (4 goals 2 assists)
scored at 5:19 of the first period.  The assists went to Jason Jennings and
Derek Schooley.
 
Merrimack cut the lead in half at 9:18 of the first when Howie Rosenblatt
beat Craig Brown.  Assists went to Agostino Casale and Cooper Naylor.
 
Merrimack tied the game at the 10:52 mark when Teal Fowler broke up a clearing
 pass, fed the puck to Matt Crowley, who beat Brown.
 
Western Michigan then scored three unanswered goals.  Eastwood scored at 11:29
with the assist to Jason Jennings.
 
The fourth Western Michigan goal was scored by Mike Ross from Mike Eastwood at
15:31 of the first.
 
The fifth Western Michigan goal was put in by Eastwood.  He took the center
ice face off, skated right in and beat Steve D'Amore at 15:39.
 
That was the end of Steve D'Amore.  He couldn't stop a beach ball, never mind
a puck tonite.  Mike Donaghey replaced him.  He shut the door for the rest
of the period.
 
Merrimack started the scoring in the second period.  Jeff Massey scored from
Dan Gravelle at 1:07.  It made the score 5-3.
 
Merrimack cut it to five to four when Claude Maillet blasted a shot from the
point past Brown.  Assists went to Sean Dooley and Dan Gravelle at 3:07 of t
the second.  It was a power play goal with Merrimack on a 5 on 3 advantage.
 
Western Michigan scored again.  Guess who?  Yep, Eastwood.  The assist went to
Mike Ross at the 6:10 mark.
 
Merrimack cut it to 6-5 when Rob Atkinson (who played his second straight
good game) scored a power play goal from Dan Gravelle and Jeff Massey at
the 15:00 mark.
 
In the third period, Richard Rerrie scored from Derek Schooley for Western M
Michigan.  It came at 4:44.
 
Western Michigan scored again as Lynn Zimmerman scored from Scott Garrow.  The
puck was shot in by Garrow, Doneghy missed the puck, it came around to Zim
Zimmerman who blasted it into the empty net.  It came at 5:28.
 
Merrimack scored at the 8:13 mark on a power play.  Howie Rosenblatt put a
wrist shot past Brown with assists from Agostino Casale and Claude Maillet.
 
Western Michigan scored what turned out to be the game winner.  Jason Jennings
blasted a shot right under Doneghy arm to make the score 9-6.  The assist
went to, yep, Eastwood.  It came at 8:21
 
Merrimack made a game of it.  Agostino Casale scored at the 11:31 mark.
 Assistswent to Teal Fowler and Howie Rosenblatt.
 
Merrimack closed the scoring when Dan Gravelle scored at 12:38.  Assists went
to Jeff Massey and Rob Atkinson.
 
The shots on goal were Western Michigan 23, Merrimack 39.
S
The saves were Western Michigan 31, Merrimack 14.
 
Western Michigan           5     1     3    -     9
Merrimack                  2     3     3    -     8
 
I'm not going to list the penalties.  There were 10 called on Western Michigan,
7 on Merrimack.
 
The game was played terribly by Merrimack, especially Steve D'Amore.  I think
D'Amore saved fewer than he stopped.
 
Merrimack will play Western Michigan again tomorrow night at the Volpe Complex.
Hopefully Merrimack will play better tommorow night.  Yannick Gosselin is
scheduled to be in net for Merrimack.
 
The team records are now:
 
Western Michigan      3    2    2
Merrimack             0    1    1
 
Kevin Yetman
Merrimack College
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