Last nights game was a pattern of lost chances. MTU had the
opportunity to take fifth place in the WCHA from North Dakota.
The opportunity is now lost for this weekend. They had the chance
to make several fines shots. Those are now long gone. They had the
the chance to red-shirt a Freshman goalie, Pete Hamilton. That too
is now gone (if I or anyone else understands the NCAA rules).
Both teams came out flat in the first period. MTU show a little
domination but did nothing to eihter maintain or enforce it.
UND scored first on the first powerplay of the game by playing
ping-pong with the goalie on several in close shots. MTU's defense
failed to keep the puck away from Caravaggio's feet
and failed to either move the puck away from the net area or the UND
players away from the crease. Kirton got credit for the goal but any
of three players would have gotten it as well, depending on which
rebound would finally break Caravaggio down. Jensen evened the
score in the first with a breakdown play from the right side.
UND came out with fire in the second period and established their
complete dominance of the rest of the game. MTU's Savage scored
first in the period with a beautiful wrap around goal. Rather than
put the goal in on the short side, he continued around Kvalevog and
slammed it home on the glove side. But UND's Keith Murphy got an
easy 15 footer from the slot when another UND player screened
Caravaggio from the inside. THis shot should be credited against
a complete breakdown of MTU's defense ... again. UND's Curt Murphy
one timed a 20 footer from the right after a pass from Kirton.
MTU's Jason Wright took a slap shot from the center near the blue
line which was redirected by Stevens into the net on a powerplay.
Then the strangest goal that I have seen in a long time occured. UND's
Hrynuik on a breakaway put a hard shot on Caravaggio's stick side.
Nothing. No sound, no puck. It literally disappeared. The ref's
thought that the puck had been stopped in Caravaggio's pads but
a search produced no puck. Then they search the net. No puck. Then
someone saw the puck lodged in the top of the net over the back
brace. A score was awarded to UND but it doesn't stop here. Fans
in the right corner were pointing and hollering about a puck in the
overlap between the net and the top of the glass. They clearly
indicated that the puck fired went there! The ref's then conducted
a conference with the net scorer to determine if he saw what
happened. (He did not turn on the light at the shot.) Apparently, he
didn't know. There being no definitive answer, the shot was given
to UND. What did happen? Despite ref checks of the net before the
period, was the net checked well enough to find such a puck? Did a
fan throw a puck in to the top of the glass? Was the puck there
from practice? Was the shot legitimate? We'll never know.
The end of the second period was marked by a checking from behind
five minute major that put MTU up for the 2 1/2 minutes of the
period. MTU's special teams really looked weak last night and this
particular opportunity highlighted this weakness. MTU was never
able to crash the net or to play the puck inside UND's defense.
Towards the end of the period, a rather talented MTU player, who's
identity I will protect, had the puck behind the net and had two
UND players committed to him but not attacking. Rather than find
the open MTU players (who incidently were high in the zone, sleeping
I guess, as they were doing nothing to help their hapless team
mate,) held on to the puck and thereby helped UND run time off the
clock. When he finally did pass, it was intercepted by UND and
cleared.
With half the major penalty starting the third, I would have guessed
that the coach would have fired up the team in the period break but
I shouldn't guess. The team came out flat and remained flat. Another
lost opportunity. UND's Wynne capitalized on a turnover in the MTU
zone in a 4 on 4 situation. Then Keith Murphy got his second score on
a long, unassisted, turnover, short handed goal. This was enough
for Coach Mancini. He pulled Caravaggio and put in Pete Hamilton
for his first time in MTU's colors. UND Trew capitalized on
Hamilton's inexperience with a final breakaway goal. The game
ended on particularly sour notes. First, in an altercation near the
Husky bench, UND's Landon Wilson received a 5 minute major and
a DQ. Then at the end of the game, UND's Sean Beswick took a swing
at MTU's Eric Jensen. Eric wasn't shy about reciprocating and both
received five minute majors and DQ's. Other player received lesser
penalties for the gang violence that continued.
I was not happy with this game. MTU looked flat the whole game.
They just were not prepared to play a grossly under rated team.
MTU expected UND to give them game. When UND decided that they
wanted to win, MTU did nothing to prevent this from happening.
MTU's passes were not crisp and point to point. On several passes,
one would swear that the MTU player did not look at the color of
shirt. MTU did not crash the net on power play situations. They
tried to play the game from the outside, even on 5 on 5 plays. When
UND brought the puck in zone, MTU went into their powerplay box
and let UND roam the outside. They refused to challenge them with
checks. Is this the result of the current rulebook and the apparent philosophy of the WCHA's officials that men and women should play
the same nonchecking game?
Lastly, let me comment on fan support for the game. Hockey is
50% a mind game. Much of hockey excellence occurs off the ice.
At least some of this occurs in the stands. MTU has lost the last
five home games. Why? I have dwelt on some of the technical
reasons above; however, there are other factors as well. The
stands are split into a student side and a nonstudent side. I swear
that the nonstudent side is filled with cadavers shortly before the
game in order to relieve pressure on the local mortuary. If I yell
my occasional "Go Tech" in my usual classroom voice, the people
around me all look back as if to say, "Who dareth disturb my RIP?"
On the other side, the students want to be involved in the game.
However, there is no organization for them. The pep band is hidden
in a corner and is relatively ineffective at reaching the student
body. There are no cheer leaders or rabble rousers (except the
infrequent drunk.) It is likely that our hockey receives more
support (albeit much is negative) on the road than at home. If the
band were placed more strategically and if there were active,
organized cheer leading during the game, the team would feel better
supported and better motivated, particularly since we have a young
team. This might also influence the mortuaries to store their
cadavers elsewhere as it could wake up the dead.
Boxes and Stats:
UND 1 3 3 - 7
MTU 1 2 0 - 3
Goalie Saves:
UND Kvalevog 10 7 11 - 28
MTU Caravaggio 6 10 3 - 19
MTU Hamilton x x 3 - 3
Powerplays:
UND 1 of 6
MTU 1 of 6
Ist Period:
Scoring:
UND Kirton 5 ( Hrynuik, Wilson) 11:20 ppg
MTU Jensen 2 (B. Peterson, P. Mikesch) 14:27
Penalties:
MTU Harris interference 9:35
MTU Meyers high stick 14:48
UND Beswick rough 17:22
MTU Van Tighem rough 17:22
2nd Period:
Scoring:
MTU Savage 5 (Seale) 5:52
UND K. Murphy 3 (Beswick, Slukynsky) 9:23
UND C. Murphy 3 (Kirton, Pivetz) 12:53
MTU Stevens 3 (Wright, P. Mikesch) 15:54 ppg
UND Hrynuik 9 (Wynne, Naumenko) 16:33
Penalties:
MTU Meyers high stick 6:42
UND Wilson slash 7:39
MTU K. Peterson slash 7:39
UND Mitani holding 11:34
MTU Hanchuk tripping 12:38
UND Rappana elbow 15:35
UND Rappana check from behind 5 min major 17:36
3rd Period:
Scoring:
UND Wynne 14 ( Kirton) 5:29
UND K. Murphy 4 (unassisted) 11:29 shg
UND Trew 8 (C. Johnson, Vig) 18:09
Penalties:
UND Johnson elbow 3:52
MTU P. Mikesch interference 4:50
UND Vig slashing 11:01
UND C. Murphy rough 11:51
UND Kvalevog rough 11:51
MTU Dupont rough 11:51
MTU Harris intereference 14:06
MTU J. Mikesch 4 min rough 18:55
UND Wilson 5 min maj punch + DQ 18:55
MTU Wright 10 minute misconduct 18:55
MTU Jensen 5 min maj punch + DQ 20:00
UND Beswick 5 min maj punch + DQ 20:00
MTU Roy 4 min rough 20:00
UND Litke 4 min rough 20:00
Walt Olson
MTU