Thanks to Ron for posting the box of Merrimack's 4-3 win at Providence. Merrimack picked up 8 of 10 points on the weekend, enough to move the Warriors into a tie for third place after their first weekend of HE play. The win at PC broke a 12-game winless streak for the Warriors dating back to last season. Merrimack is now 1-4-1 overall, 1-2-1 in DivI games - but 1-0-1 in HE. A very encouraging sign this weekend was the play of the freshmen. Center Martin Laroche got into the scoring column in a big way with his first two collegiate goals at PC, which gained him the number one star of the game. The most impressive player this weekend was certainly freshman center Casey Kesselring. The 6-0/185 pounder picked up a goal and two assists in the 6-6 tie Friday night, and he added the game winning goal halfway through the third on Saturday. Kesselring centers the first line with seniors Matt Adams and Mark Goble as wings, and this has suddenly become a very potent combination for Merrimack. On the weekend, Adams tallied 1-4--5, and Goble had the hat trick Friday and added an assist on Kesselring's winner Saturday. With injured D Tom Costa out this weekend (he should return to practice this week and play against UNH), two little-used Ds were pressed into service, and both played well. Freshman Chris Silvestro was paired with junior transfer Alex MacLellan, and Silvestro picked up an assist Saturday. After scoring 5 PPGs Friday, the power play was held in check by PC in the rematch, going 0 for 8. Merrimack also needs work on the shorthand, killing only 11 of 18 Friar PPs on the weekend. But on the flip side, the Warriors allowed only two even strength goals this weekend, one each night. G Martin Legault had a solid weekend, making 24 saves Friday and 28 Saturday. He was named second star of the 4-3 win but probably should have been first star; with the game tied 1-1 in the second, he came up big several times to keep it tied. Merrimack then got two goals in 27 seconds halfway through the period to go ahead. He again played well in the third after Kesselring's goal put MC ahead to stay. But he also got some help from the goaltender's best friend. With PC on a power play in the final minutes, Friar Justin Gould hit the post on a shot from the blue line that would have tied it. Even though Merrimack earned a win and a shootout win on the weekend, these were two games that could have easily gone the other way. The teams seem pretty evenly matched, with PC having better guns up front in Quenneville and Kramer and Merrimack having better goaltending in Legault. Both teams also worked hard this weekend which was nice to see. Paul Pooley has PC giving virtually a 60 minute effort. When you are at home and score two PPGs while holding the opponents' PP scoreless, you're usually going to win. But a couple of minor defensive lapses led to Merrimack goals, and Legault was also a key. PC lacks a defenseman who can move the puck up ice and control the play. Scott Balboni appears to be the closest thing to this, and he came up with the big tying PPG in the third Saturday. PC can skate, and if the Ds get into the play a little more, they should be all right. I also thought that PC's Joe Hulbig looked better than he did either of his first two years. He's been kind of a disappointment thus far, but it's hard to live up to the billing he had coming in. He seems to have settled into a solid role on the second line, playing with a guy I think is very underrated in Stefan Brannare, and this should be his best season yet. Hulbig's goal late in the second period enabled PC to go into the locker room down only one and set the stage for what was nearly a comeback win in the third. Merrimack next travels to Manchester, NH, this coming Friday night to take on UNH in a game that will be shown live on NESN. This will be UNH's first game this season in Manchester, which I think is an advantage for Merrimack. It will be the first game in that rink for both teams, so that takes away some of the home ice advantage for the Wildcats. The teams will meet again Saturday night at Merrimack. Providence has a home and home on tap with Lowell, and Saturday's game at Lowell will be shown live on WNDS-50. PC will have to find a way to stop Bullock, no question about it. The next three games are big ones for Merrimack, as the Warriors immediately follow up their set with UNH by hosting Lowell Tuesday 11/15 in a WNDS-50 tv game. Those 3 games in 5 nights could go a long way towards turning around the 0-4 start Merrimack had and establishing them as either a home ice contender or as a member of the second division. --- --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Cabletron Systems, Inc. *HMM* 11/13/93