Last night, in front of 921 fans in the Volpe Complex, the Merrimack Warriors lost the season series with Providence College by coming up on the short end of a 5-3 decision. Providence scored first. Mike Boback fired a shot from the top of the right circle. Merrimack goalie Yannick "The Goose" Gosselin got a piece of it with his pads, but it broke through and into the net for the one to nothing lead. The assists went to Shaun Kane and Chris Therien at 10:47 of the first period. Providence made it 2-0 at the 15:25 mark. Unfortuately, I must have heard the announcement wrong, because I thought they said #26 scored the goal, but there is no 26 on the Friars roster. Anyway, whoever it was fired a wrist shot from between the two circles about 30 feet out. It wasn't a particularly hard shot, but Goose didn't get all of it, and it rolled in the net for the 2-0 lead. The only assist went to Brian McCarthy. Merrimack cut it to 2-1 before the end of the period. Howie Rosenblatt took a Teal Fowler pass out in front of the net and wasted no time in putting it on net. Providence goalie Brad Mullahy got piece of it, but it bounced in for the goal. It came at 17:50. The assists went to Fowler and Agostino Casale. In the second, Merrimack scored the first two goals. John Barron, a sophmore who has shown a lot of promise at times, poked in his own rebound on a third try. The assists went to Brendan Locke and Jim Gibson at the 4:16 mark. Teal Fowler put Merrimack ahead on a power play goal at 12:58. Just five seconds earlier Rob Gandreau was called for holding. Fowler won the draw back to Tim Doyle. Doyle passed it to the right point for Claude Maillet. Maillet fired the shot in. The ref said that Fowler got a piece of it. I thought it went straight in, but I was partially screened by a Providence defender. Providence evened the score on a goal by Gary Socha. Socha picked up the rebound of a Rob Gandreau shot and fired it into an open net for the tie. The other assist went to Pat Madigan at 15:35. Providence went ahead for good on a power play goal at 17:58. Mike Boback fired a shot from the left wing. I don't know if Goose never saw it, or just missed it, but it found it's way into the net. The assists went to Shaun Kane and Larry Rooney. It came while Jim Gibson was in the box for an elbow. There was only one goal in the third period. Bob Cowan for Providence fired a wrist shot from the blue line. Goose misplayed it, it hit his glove and went in the net at the 17:19 mark. The assist went to Mario Aube. Scoring by Periods: Merrimack 1 2 0 - 5 Providence 2 2 1 - 5 (Yes I can add, the Merrimack total should be three, I can't edit in this mailer. Sorry) Shots: Merrimack 12 13 9 - 34 Providence 15 7 13 - 35 Saves: Mullahy (PC) 11 11 9 - 31 Gosselin(MC) 13 5 12 - 30 Pipes: Merrimack 0 0 0 - 0 Providence 0 1 1 - 2 Some observations: Period 1 and 3, the ref (Taylor) didn't call any penalties at all (Period one there were penalties called at 20:00.) Merrimack really missed Dan Gravelle who has injured a shoulder. This is nothing personal against Rob Kelley, but he and Rob Atkinson didn't click near as well as Dan Gravelle and Rob Atkinson did. Not to mention that Gravelle is by far the Warriors best face off man, the Warriors will miss him until he returns. Agostino Casale has been in a bit of a goal scoring slump. Last night he was stoned twice by Mullahy right in close. COME ON AUGIE, THE WARRIORS NEED YOU! Merrimack next plays Friday night when the high powered and talented Terriers of BU come to town. This game is going to be a tough one for Merrimack with this Warrior fan predicting a very one sided affair for the boys in red. Kevin E-mail MIGHT reach me at: [log in to unmask] "You can still Rock in America" - Night Ranger