Friday, February 4, 1994 at Volpe Center, North Andover, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Boston College Eagles (10-12-3, 4-10-3 HE 7th) 0 4 0 - 4
Merrimack Warriors (11-14-2, 4-11-2 HE 8th) 2 2 2 - 6
FIRST PERIOD MC-BC
1. MC1, Tom Johnson 9 (Mark Goble, Jim Gibson), 0:40. 1-0
2. MC2, Goble 7 (Gibson, Johnson), 5:26. 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. BC1, David Wainwright 1 (Rob Canavan, Don Chase), 1:37. PPG 2-1
4. BC2, Wainwright 2 (unassisted), 3:47. 2-2
5. BC3, Chase 6 (Jack Callahan, Joe Harney), 4:31. 2-3
6. BC4, Ryan Haggerty 12 (Michael Spalla, Jeff Connolly), 6:52. PPG 2-4
7. MC3, Matt Adams 12 (Rob Atkinson, Dan Hodge), 15:50. PPG 3-4
8. MC4, Atkinson 15 (Cooper Naylor), 16:03. 4-4
THIRD PERIOD
9. MC5, Claudio Peca 7 (Adams, Hodge), 9:32. PPG GWG 5-4
10. MC6, Peca 8 (Hodge), 19:45. ENG 6-4
SHOTS ON GOAL: Boston College 9-10-10 = 29
Merrimack 10-11--9 = 30
SAVES: BC, Greg Taylor (59:45, L, 9-11-3, 29 sh-24 sv).
MC, Martin Legault (60:00, W, 9-13-2, 29-25).
POWER PLAYS: BC 2 for 4. MC 2 for 5.
PENALTIES: BC 15/38. MC 14/28.
REFEREES: John Gravellese, Bob Fowkes. LINESMAN: Dennis Hughes.
ATTENDANCE: 1,522.
THREE STARS: 1. Coach Ron Anderson, Merrimack (200th win).
2. LW Tom Johnson, Merrimack (1-1--2).
3. D David Wainwright, Boston College (2-0--2).
Merrimack coach Ron Anderson earned his 200th win as his team defeated
BC for the second time in three days, 6-4, to pull within a point of
the 7th place Eagles. Merrimack played one of its finest periods of
the year in pulling ahead 2-0 after one, but four BC goals in the
opening 6:52 of the second turned the tide to the Eagles. The Warriors
regrouped to score twice in 13 seconds later in the period and tie the
game at 4-4, and a PPG by freshman Claudio Peca halfway through the
third proved to be the winner. Peca added an ENG for the 6-4 final.
BC was led by freshman defenseman David Wainwright, who had yet to score
in 24 games prior to tonight and then tallied not once but twice early
in the second to get BC back in the game. Wainwright had several chances
later on to complete a rare defenseman's hat trick, but he could not.
For John Hauessler, who was here to see a great home turnout last
Friday in Merrimack's nailbiting 5-4 loss to BU: tonight we saw an even
better fan showing as the students were perhaps the Unsung Hero and
certainly helped carry Merrimack to the win. My jaw dropped in the
third period when I heard a student leading the roaring crowd in
spelling "WARRIORS" - perhaps we have our own Ogre? It is too bad that
the next home game is not until February 19th.
FIRST
Merrimack roared out of the blocks and completely dominated BC for
the first half of the period, outshooting BC 6-1. Just 40 seconds
in, Merrimack got on the board during a BC line change as Mark Goble,
Tom Johnson and Jim Gibson combined on a 3x1, Goble feeding Johnson
for a wrister to Greg Taylor's glove side. It was Johnson's 9th
goal of the year.
The same line clicked again at 5:26 when Johnson passed out of the
corner to Goble for a one-timer that Taylor had no chance on. For
Goble, who has been struggling this season, it was his third goal in
two games.
SECOND
As well as Merrimack played in the first, BC came out and turned the
tables in the second. After a 4x4 ended and BC had just 14 seconds
on a short power play, the Eagles got on the board at 1:37 when
Wainwright came off the bench, took a pass from Rob Canavan in the
corner and beat Legault for his first collegiate goal. Wainwright
wasted no time resting on his laurels, scoring again at 3:47 to tie
the game at 2-2 when he picked up a loose puck at the point and shot
it in off the pipe.
BC was taking the play to Merrimack, banging the Warriors physically
when they didn't have the puck and creating some nice plays when they
caused turnovers.
For the only time this season I can recall, Merrimack freshman D Steve
McKenna (6-8, 225) was knocked down, but it took an illegal play to do
it - a BC player came across the ice and crosschecked McKenna from
behind, slamming his head into the boards. At first the injury appeared
to be serious, but he was soon helped up and skated off okay, returning
to play. No call was made although the crowd wanted a major, I don't
think either referee saw it since it was behind the play.
BC went ahead at 4:31 when Jack Callahan's pass from the point found
Don Chase in tight and Chase beat Legault upstairs with a nice move.
Then, the referees took over briefly, calling two minors on each team
at 4:56 and coincidentals at 5:25 and 5:30. 19 of the game's 29 penalties
would be called in a rough second period.
Merrimack's Tom Costa received a strange tripping penalty when he
foiled a BC breakaway. Costa dove and swept the puck away to the
corner and the Eagle did not fall nor even hardly lost his balance,
yet Costa went to the box anyway. That proved to be big as BC scored
28 seconds into the man advantage to go up 4-2, Ryan Haggerty taking
a feed from Jeff Connolly and beating Legault from high in the slot.
To that point, Legault had allowed four goals on 5 BC shots in the
period, although two were PPGs and he wasn't getting any help from
his team. Merrimack called timeout to regroup and Legault would not
allow another goal over the final 33:08. Perhaps his biggest two
saves came right after the goal, when he stopped Jack Callahan twice
on one play.
Then BC made its biggest mistake of the night: they decided to stop
playing hockey and start taking runs at opponents. On one play,
McKenna was checked into the BC bench, and while he was there, BC's
Rob Laferriere punched him in the head. Laferriere, not one of the
cleaner players on the BC squad, drew a boarding penalty at 14:36
when he slammed Johnson into the penalty box. The hit knocked the
door wide open (it was already slightly ajar), which turned out to
be to Laferriere's advantage since it made it easier for him to go
in to serve his punishment.
The Warrior power play clicked at 15:50 when Rob Atkinson carried up
the left side and fed Matt Adams for a quick turnaround shot and a
goal, his 12th of the year. Laferriere left the box and must have
said something to Gravallese, who invited the Eagle to take a seat for
ten more minutes.
The raucous crowd was still celebrating when Merrimack tied the score
13 seconds later on a delayed call against BC, Cooper Naylor feeding
Atkinson for his 15th. As much as BC had outplayed Merrimack for
much of the period, the teams still went to the locker rooms at 4-4.
THIRD
The final period was less eventful, with both teams having good
chances to move ahead. BC's Peter Masters made a great play to get
back and break up a pass to Adams that would have resulted in a good
scoring chance. Costa later dropped down to block a shot by BC's
Michael Spalla and took the puck in the gut, knocking his wind out
of him for a few moments, but he was okay.
After BC's Greg Callahan was called for elbowing Jim Gibson at center
ice, Peca scored his winner at 9:32. Dan Hodge at the point attempted
a pass that hit Adams' leg high in the slot and came to Peca down low for
the goal and a 5-4 lead. Merrimack didn't sit back, though, and
the Naylor-Atkinson-Adams line came out banging and frustrating BC by
keeping the puck in the zone. Taylor had to make a great save off
Adams to keep it a one-goal game, and off the rebound Atkinson tried
to go upstairs and shot it over the net.
I also saw tonight what Tony Biscardi meant about BC's leg checks,
like the one that he said put out BU's Kaj Linna for several weeks.
That happened numerous times and was never called, most obviously when
John Joyce did it to Goble and Goble had to struggle off. Then it
happened again, David Hymovitz leg-checking Johnson. I mentioned
this to Merrimack's trainer and he said he had been yelling about it
the whole game. Clean, hard-hitting hockey is great and fun to watch
and we saw a lot of it tonight, but there is no room for leg checks
in the game. I don't know why, but it seemed like BC resorted to it
more than any team I have seen this year. In fact, I haven't even
noticed it before this game.
BC's last good chance to score came with a few minutes left when Harney
made a nice play to intercept a clearing pass on a Merrimack change and
set up Chase for a bid that Legault stopped. After that, Merrimack
was able to prevent BC from starting things out of their end and by
keeping the puck out of their zone, they didn't let Taylor come out
for a 6th attacker until about 30 seconds were left. Soon afterward,
Hodge cleared the puck to Peca at center ice and Peca scored the ENG
to seal the 6-4 win.
POSTGAME
Except for the first half of the second period, Merrimack played a
very solid game from start to finish and seems to be coming together
with its best hockey of the season, including last Friday's loss to
BU. Freshmen scored three of the six goals, and the first line
chipped in with two more - all things that the team will need to
have happen if the final 8 games are to be successful ones and the
team is to escape the cellar. I still find myself looking to the future,
though, and with the way the freshmen have risen to the challenge to
play superbly the last few games, things certainly do look bright.
Legault was not as outstanding as he has been, but he was more than
adequate in slamming the door shut after a rocky start to the second -
a great sign of a rookie goaltender who appears mature beyond his years,
he did what had to be done to insure a win.
BC looked in the second like it was going to get its act together
and blow the game wide open after their four goals, but they seemed
to stop making creative plays after that and turned to just hitting
while Merrimack started skating and moving the puck well. The two
biggest goals of the game, the one that brought Merrimack within one
at 4-3 and Peca's winner, came after BC penalties that could have been
avoided. Taylor really didn't have much of a chance on most of the
goals he allowed; his defense is inexperienced and made several key
mistakes tonight.
The win means that Merrimack is guaranteed to win the season series
against BC, something Merrimack has never done. The teams will play
again next Friday night at BC. Before that, Merrimack plays at
Mass Amherst Sunday at 2 pm (NESN tape delay at 10 pm), and BC meets
Northeastern in the first round of the Beanpot Monday at 6 pm (NESN).
Merrimack defeated the Minutemen 8-2 in the first game of the season,
but UMass has clearly gained a boatload of experience since then and
it should be a good one. BC split with the Huskies early in January,
losing 9-4 at home but winning 4-2 on the smaller Matthews Arena ice.
Since BC has become a more physical team the last few years and seems
to do well vs NU on the road, it will be interesting to see if they
also fare well in the Garden whose surface is almost identical to
that of Matthews.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
<<<<< Color Voice of the (11-14-2) Merrimack Warriors WCCM 800 AM >>>>>
Opinions expressed in this post are solely those of the poster.
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