Saturday, December 3, 1994 at Mullins Center, Amherst, MA
HOCKEY EAST GAME
Merrimack Warriors (4-8-2, 3-4-2 1 HE 5th) 2 0 1 - 3
Mass Amherst Minutemen (0-10-1, 0-7-0 0 HE 9th) 0 1 0 - 1
FIRST PERIOD MC-MA
1. MC1, Chris Silvestro 2 (Claudio Peca, Tom Johnson), 14:02. PPG 1-0
2. MC2, Rob Beck 8 (Casey Kesselring, Matt Adams), 19:22. GWG 2-0
SECOND PERIOD
3. MA1, Christopher Fawcett 2 (Brad Norton, Dennis Wright), 12:42. 2-1
THIRD PERIOD
4. MC3, Kesselring 7 (Adams, Karl Infanger), 6:12. 4x4 3-1
SHOTS ON GOAL: Merrimack 7-10--7 = 24
Mass Amherst 20-12--9 = 41
SAVES: MC, Martin Legault (W, 3-7-2, 60:00, 41 sh-40 sv).
MA, Rich Moriarty (L, 0-2-0, 59:00, 24 sh-21 sv).
POWER PLAYS: MC 1 for 3. MA 0 for 4.
PENALTIES: MC 9/34. MA 8/32.
REFEREES: Frank Cole, Jeff Bunyon. LINESMAN: Steve Arnold.
ATTENDANCE: 2,640 (capacity 8,389).
THREE STARS: 1. G Martin Legault, Merrimack (41 sh-40 sv).
2. C Casey Kesselring, Merrimack (1-1--2).
3. RW Matt Adams, Merrimack (0-2--2).
Despite being outshot 20-7 in the first period, Merrimack took a 2-0
lead into the locker room on the strength of goals by Chris Silvestro
and Rob Beck as well as superb netminding by Martin Legault, and
the Warriors escaped with a 3-1 win over still winless UMass-Amherst.
Yet, in the postgame press conference, both UMA coach Joe Mallen and
goalie Rich Moriarty called it the best and most consistent effort
by a Minuteman team since the team began play last season. Mallen
was obviously disappointed in the loss, but he lauded the play of his
team, who he correctly said dominated play much of the way.
Legault, who was named the game's number one star, was certainly the
difference as he turned aside perhaps 10-12 quality scoring chances.
He was helped by the play of his defense which cleared rebounds - in
fact, while stopping 74 of 78 shots on the weekend, Legault only
faced about 3 or 4 rebound shots in 120 minutes of play, none for
goals.
Matt Adams continued to play well for Merrimack, picking up two more
assists as he twice contributed the final pass that led to goals. Adams
has become the Warriors' leading scorer with 7-9--16 on the year. His
linemate, freshman Casey Kesselring, added a goal and an assist to give
him 7-7--14 totals.
FIRST PERIOD
UMA came out storming in the first and didn't look like a team that
was winless in 10 games. The tone was set on the first shift when
UMA leading scorer Rob Bonneau, back after a one game suspension after
the BU game two weeks ago, took a feed off the boards and blew by the
Merrimack defense, then was stopped by Legault.
However, the Minuteman power play (now 1 for 41 in HE) continued to
struggle. Rob Beck was allowed to steal the puck at the point and
zipped past two defenders for a shorthanded breakaway, but after he
put a nice fake on Moriarty, he flipped a backhander wide. Merrimack
would have a number of great scoring chances in the game despite being
outshot, but they tended to either shoot wide or fumble the final pass.
Merrimack never trailed on the weekend, but it looked as if UMA would
score first when Sal Manganaro got in front of Legault off the draw
and had a beautiful rebound chance off a quick shot from the point.
Nearly everyone in the building thought it was in, except that after
making the original save and being down and out, Legault somehow got
his glove up to rob Manganaro of his bid. Even the home scoreboard
operator had put the goal up on the board already and celebratory
music began to play.
Soon afterward, Merrimack went on the power play and scored during a
delayed call, as Chris Silvestro's shot from the point seemed to have
been deflected past Moriarty by a defender. This gave MC a 1-0 lead
and another two minute power play, but that was negated just 34 seconds
later after a hooking call on Adams in the offensive zone.
It looked as if Merrimack would be thrilled to leave the ice with a 1-0
lead after one, but then a sudden break up ice caught the Minutemen
outnumbered in their own end and put the visitors up by two instead.
Kesselring intercepted a breakout pass at center ice and fed a backhand
pass to Adams, who raced up the wing and found Beck in front. Beck
deked and beat Moriarty for his 8th goal (team lead) with only 38 seconds
left in the stanza.
SECOND PERIOD
This had to have been extremely frustrating to the young Minutemen, but
they continued to play strongly and would pull within one in the second.
But first, Legault came up big again, as he came out and slid to block
with his pads a bid by Warren Norris after the center had stolen the
puck from Steve McKenna at the blueline and walked in.
At 12:42, UMA's work paid off, as Christopher Fawcett got in close and
tipped a shot by Brad Norton through Legault's pads to make it 2-1.
However, this was one of the few times all weekend that UMA was able to
get a man in close enough to Legault to cause problems. Dennis Wright
made the play happen when he kept the puck in the zone after John
Jakopin blocked a shot and the puck was headed to center ice.
THIRD PERIOD
UMass-Amherst had its hopes dashed in the third when a 4x4 goal
allowed Merrimack to regain its two goal lead and a bit of breathing
room. Karl Infanger started the play with a pass to Adams at center
ice, and Adams shifted into high gear and zoomed into the zone. As
Adams wound up for a blast from the circle, Kesselring worked his way to
the front of the net and was able to bang home Adams' rebound for his
7th goal at 6:12 and a 3-1 lead.
The Warriors did a good job of keeping shots to the outside the rest
of the way, and UMA only had 9 shots in the period after 32 over the
first two. The best chance came late in the game when Gerry Cahill
fed Fawcett in front with a cross ice pass, but Legault neatly slid
over to make the save.
UMA called time out and pulled Moriarty for a 6x4 advantage after a
late penalty to Merrimack, but they were not able to generate anything
threatening.
COMMENTS - UMA
Watching UMass-Amherst this weekend reminded me quite a bit of
Merrimack's first couple of years in HE. For a program that is only
partway through its second season, Joe Mallen has already brought them
a long way in a short time. He talked about how his team had opened
up last year by getting blown off the ice at Merrimack in a game that
was not as close as the 8-2 score, then how they played much better
in a 4-1 loss to MC later last year, followed by two games this
weekend that were simply won by the team with more experience and IMO
better goaltending. Mallen said that of course, they did not expect
to be 0-10-1 right now, having hoped to have gotten at least a few wins
under their belts (and many UMA people clearly felt this was the
weekend they would get that elusive first win).
But he talked about the youth of the team, the fact that you have to
walk before you can run, and about how it is a learning process and
that it will take time. Having sat in on the press conference, I
queried him about the differences between his team's play against
Merrimack last year and this weekend, and he noted that despite the
losses, there was a world of difference between the games and that
he feels his team has shown that it can be competitive - also drawing
comparisons to earlier close games with BC and Providence.
It's just that it's so tough to get over that final hurdle where you
don't make key mistakes and you get the big goals at the right time to
win a game. UMA is a team that desperately needs to believe it can
win, and it gets more difficult as this doesn't happen game after
game. A big part of the problem is certainly inexperience. This
manifests itself in many ways: taking bad penalties at bad times,
making mistakes on coverage, misjudging when you should pass instead
of shooting. It's not unusual for freshmen and sophomores to make
such mistakes (witness Chris Kelleher's inability to control the
puck in front of the BU net that led to Shermerhorn's winning goal
for Maine in the Freeze Out). The problem is that for UMA, except
for Manganaro, *everyone* is inexperienced, and so mistakes are more
likely. It takes time to learn.
I was impressed with the way they came out firing in the first period
tonight, and more so with their solid play in the second and third after
completely dominating the first and having nothing to show for it. I
think Mallen deserves a lot of credit for that. On the way home,
Heather and I were discussing his impact on the program and how he
seems to be just the right man for the job. With a team as young as
he has, he seems to be a coach who reinforces the positive aspects of
their play and builds on them. And he also has everything in the right
perspective - as I said, he was disappointed in the loss, but he also
seemed very happy with the way his team has come along and said he
couldn't have asked for a better effort than they gave tonight.
In closing, he referred to a feature on former UCLA coach John Wooden
during the Kansas-UMass hoop game today, as he asked the gathering
of press how many championships Wooden had won. (Only Heather knew. :-))
Then he asked, "How many years did it take for him to win his first?"
(I believe it was 17.) He knows there is a long road ahead of him...
and that there is still much work to be done. But I was impressed
with the way he was very complimentary of his team and of Merrimack's
ability to come in and "play a tough road game." I wish him success
the rest of the way, and I am sure it will come quickly.
COMMENTS - MERRIMACK
While these were games Merrimack absolutely needed to win to get back
in the thick of the race, I don't believe they thought they were gimmes.
"Just get the points" seemed to be the attitude, and they did that -
that's all you can ask for on the road. Still, this weekend showed
that there are still aspects of Merrimack's game that need work. It
was a plus that Adams continued to put points up on the board and play
well, and part of this might be explained by the fact that Ron Anderson
has tended to go with three lines the last few games. Adams seems to
play better when he sees more ice time.
But on the offensive side of things, the Warriors had a number of great
opportunities that they squandered, and they were unable to put the
Minutemen away either night. Against better teams, this has proven
costly.
Defensively, Merrimack overall played well. The high shot total by
UMA is a little bothersome, but Legault seems to play well when he
sees the puck a lot, and for the most part there were no screens and
few rebounds for him to face. The defense deserves credit for that.
Special teams fared better as would be expected against a team that
has struggled both on power play and on shorthand, but next week
Merrimack goes from one extreme to another in facing Maine. Maine
seems to have had its success in playing opponents pretty evenly at
even strength but dominating the special teams. I feel pretty
confident in saying that if Merrimack isn't able to at least pull
even with Maine next weekend in those areas, they will lose both games.
However, Merrimack has been able to get up for home games against
the better teams in HE over the last couple of years, and they have
also historically played very well in the last couple of games of the
first semester. It is unknown whether defenseman Mark Cornforth,
one of the better two-way players in HE, will return next weekend,
but if he does, it should improve Merrimack's chances. This is a series
that seems to be very eagerly anticipated by the team and its followers,
and I expect the turnout to be the best of the year - a good way to
close the semester.
In another message, I mentioned the domination Maine has enjoyed over
Merrimack over the last 5 or 6 years, and at this point, even coming
away with any points at all would have to be considered a major upset.
It also appears to be a key to their chances of staying in the hunt
in HE, since the Warriors have already lost a number of games that
were very winnable. They need to make up for that by pulling some
upsets against the better teams in the league.
NEXT
UMass-Amherst will close the HE portion of its first semester in the
league with a home and home against UNH next Fri & Sat. Fri's game
comes at the JFK Coliseum in Manchester, NH, and on Sat the teams
will battle again at the Mullins Center. UMA then closes the semester
by hosting Princeton on 12/16/94. Merrimack's last two games of the
semester will be home games with Maine next Fri & Sat, with Sat's game
to be shown live on NESN. All games mentioned have a 7 pm ET start.
--- ---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93
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