Maine 4, Mass Lowell 3 (NC)
Friday, November 29, 1996 at Gutterson Fieldhouse (Burlington, VT)
Score By Periods Shots on Goal Pen - Min Power Play
UML 1 - 2 - 0 -- 3 8 - 3 - 4 -- 15 7 - 14 0 - 5
ME 0 - 1 - 3 -- 4 9 - 11 - 11 -- 31 7 - 14 0 - 5
Records: Mass-Lowell (6-5-0, 4-4-0 HE)
Maine (6-5-1, 1-4-1 HE)
SCORING
1st Period
UML-1 Kevin Bertram (Stone, Donovan) 9:53
2nd Period
ME-1 Trevor Roenick (Satterstrom, Larose) 10:16
UML-2 Marc Salsman (Donovan, Sandholm) 15:04
UML-3 Ryan Sandholm (Koehler, Salsman) 15:19
3rd Period
ME-2 Dan Shermerhorn (Cullen, Cardinal) 3:07
ME-3 Leo Wlasow (Parmentier, Wansborough) 9:35
ME-4 Scott Parmentier (Kariya, Wlasow) GWG 12:03
Goaltenders Saves by Period
UML - Martin Fillion (59:01) 9 - 10 - 8 -- 27
ME - Alfie Michaud (40:00) 7 - 1 - x -- 8
Javier Gorriti (20:00) x - x - 4 -- 4
OFFICIALS: Referee Frank Cole; Assistant Referees: Joel Dupree, Randy Viens;
ATTENDANCE: 4,035
BURLINGTON, VT -- Dan Shermerhorn, Leo Wlasow and Scott Parmentier scored
third period goals as Maine came back from 3-1 deficit at the end of two
periods, to win the first game of the Governor's Cup 4-3 Friday evening at
Gutterson Fieldhouse. Goaltender Javier Gorriti replaced Maine starter
Alfie Michaud in the third period and earned his first Division I victory.
PREGAME:
Maine had seven players potentially out this weekend, but only two missed
Friday night's matchup. Bobby Stewart did not make the trip to Vermont with
the team and will definately miss Saturday's game as well. Shawn Mansoff
missed Friday's game but could return, if needed, Saturday against New
Hampshire.
FIRST PERIOD:
The first period started out as well as it possibly could for the Black
Bears as Sean Storozuk was whistled for a penalty on the first offensive
series for the River Hawks. Maine would not capitalize on the power play,
icing the puck once and then not being able to setup in the zone against a
tough UML penalty kill. Coming into tonight's game Lowell had killed off 87
percent of opponents power plays, and they would only improve that as Maine
went 0 for 5 on the night.
Maine played pretty solid defensively in what would become a staple of their
effort Friday night. Lowell spent a great deal of time in the first period
trying to break in behind the Maine defense by sending their forwards and
having the defensemen start the play with long up-ice passes. To Maine's
credit they did not allow any major breakaways.
Much of the first period was played in neutral ice and along the boards, and
Lowell seemed to be winning most of the one-on-one battles, thus giving them
an apparent edge even though the statistics say the period was even.
David Cullen would lose one of those battles as Neil Donovan beat him behind
the net. Donovan came out from behind the net and could have walked in
front but instead threw the puck to the point for Derek Stone. Stone's
point shot was deflected by Kevin Bertram at 9:53 for the 1-0 UML lead.
Maine had the slight edge in shots (9-8) but Lowell had the play. They were
winning the battles and seemed to have more quality opportunities than the
Bears. Maine offense seemingly went to sleep in sections of the period.
SECOND PERIOD:
The second period can best be described as hot and cold.
Hot because Maine dominated almost every aspect of the game, and got the
tying goal at the 10:16 mark of the period. Trevor Roenick got the goal,
showing great patience as he walked all the way around the net and skated
back out in front of a crowd where UML goaltender Martin Fillion lost him.
Roenick went upstairs and the game was tied.
Maine was putting good pressure on Lowell, but the players were not coming
through. Many quality opportunites went wide or went over the net. When
they did put something on net, Fillion was there.
Fillion's best stop of the second period was on a two-on-one with two of
Maine's best forwards, Scott Parmentier and Steve Kariya. Parmentier made a
nice pass to Kariya, but a diving, sprawling Fillion made the stop.
This has plagued Maine all season, and it looked like it would once again
come back to haunt the Black Bears as the goaltending went cold.
Marc Salsman scored at the 15:04 mark of the second. Former Maine
goaltender Blair Marsh said that netminder Alfie Michaud was cheating to
play the pass and took his skate away from the post. Salsman banked the
puck in off Michaud for the 2-1 lead.
On the next rush, simply 15 seconds later the unthinkable happened. Salsman
made a quick pass out front and Ryan Sandholm converted at 15:19 to give
UMass-Lowell the 3-1 lead, despite being completely overwhelmed.
It's hard to blame Michaud for all the problems Maine has experienced this
season, but the second period was a poor period for the freshman. Michaud
faced only three shots in the period, and two of them scored. In fact UML
only attempted six shots in the entire period (3 on net, 2 off-target and 1
blocked). The Maine team had generated plenty of offense (11 shots on net,
many others off-targer) but had not sacrificed their defense. It was a
testament to what the team was capable of, but the goaltending was not
there. There is no way Maine should have been down 3-1 after dominating so
much and outshooting UML 11-3, but they were.
THIRD PERIOD:
In response to Michaud's poor play in the second, Maine interim head coach
Greg Cronin replaced Michaud with junior Javier Gorriti, who made his first
appearance in a Division I game, and would get the victory.
Maine replicated the second period dominance, but put the pucks on target
and in the back of the net.
Dan Shermerhorn, playing with a thigh injury, got the comeback going as he
broke out of a scoring slump to score his fifth goal of the year.
Shermerhorn was left all alone in the slot and when low to the blocker side
to cut the lead to 3-2 at the 3:07 mark.
About six minutes later it was Leo Wlasow's turn. The defenseman scored his
first goal of the season when his point shot fooled Fillion and snuck in the
net off the inside of the post to the tie the score at 3-3.
With 7:57 to go Scott Parmentier would give Maine their first lead of the
game, and a needed victory. A great lead pass sent Parmentier away as he
used his speed to fly down the left-hand side and went five-hole before
Fillion could close his pads.
Gorriti made some quality saves, but several of the best plays he made were
not shots on goal. A couple good poke-checks thwarted several potential
scoring chances for the Riverhawks. All totaled Gorriti only faced four
shots in the period, stopping them all. The defense deserves credit as they
cleared the net well for Gorriti, and the forwards came back and played well
too.
A scary moment late in the period as Trevor Roenick took an ill-advised
penalty with just 1:06 to go, and when UML pulled Fillion they skated
six-on-four. But Mike Nicholishen made a bad play for the Riverhawks as he
made a pass up ice nowhere near any UML player causing an icing with just 27
seconds left in the game. This forced Fillion back in the net, and UML
never threatened again in the game.
COMMENTS:
An impressive game for Maine Friday night. As banged up as the Black Bears
are, they came through with the win, dominating the last 40 minutes of play.
The Black Bears were able to play both defense and offense effectively in
those 40 minutes which is certainly a good sign, especially when you
consider that five guys in the line-up were nicked up. But those guys
played a key role.
Dan Shermerhorn and Trevor Roenick, both questionable for the game, each
scored a goal, and Nils Satterstrom who has missed a significant amount of
time had an assist. They were key to the victory.
I applaude the move to go with Gorriti in the third period. Reportedly
Gorriti has spoken to Cronin inquiring about why he hasn't been given a
shot, since Michaud has struggled. Gorriti got his shot Friday night and
did not do anything to weaken his case.
What many people don't know about Gorriti is that he is an experienced
goaltender. Three years ago he tried out for the Maine team and was cut.
He played the second period of the Blue-White game that year and took quite
a beating. Gorriti left to go play for Division III Salem State that
season, and all he did was win the team Most Valuable Player that season.
It will be interesting to see what happens Saturday night. Has Gorriti
earned the chance to start, especially since the team played well in front
of him? Time will tell.
Another gutsy performance from Maine who made up for the things they did
wrong last weekend. After coming from behind to beat UML last Friday, they
pretty much gave the game away last Saturday. This week they were down, but
came out and got the job done. Maine has now won 3 of their last 4 against
Lowell, and all three games have featured third period comebacks. Overall
Maine has won 2 of their last 3 and upped their record to 6-5-1 overall.
Maine will play a lot of close games, and wins like this are important
because they help a young team mature.
Maine will face New Hampshire in the championship of the Governor's Cup.
Maine is the defending champion of this tournament. UNH lit up Michaud 6-3,
and 6-5 respectively earlier this month at UNH. UNH did a number on Vermont
Friday night 8-6, and is ranked No. 4 in the nation. With No. 2 Boston
University losing Friday night, UNH could even move up further with a victory.
For Maine.. they might not have many chances to play for championships this
season, so I'm sure they will be looking forward to Saturday's game.
---
Deron Treadwell ([log in to unmask])
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