Terriers Blank St. Francis In Hockey Exhibition Game
October 5, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Seniors Pat Aufiero (Winchester) and Jack Baker (South Boston) along with freshman Justin Maiser (Edina, MN) each had a goal and an assist, while sophomore goalies Sean Fields (Edmonton, ALTA) and Andy Warren (Princeton Junction, NJ) combined for a shutout as the Terrier hockey team blanked St. Francis Xavier of Nova Scotia, 4-0, in a penalty-filled exhibition game at Brown Arena on Friday night (October 5th).
After a scoreless first period, Maiser scored what proved to be the game-winning goal at 9:25 of the second period. He collected a rebound off an Aufiero shot and blasted the puck past St. Francis goalie Dwayne Bateman. Baker also earned an assist on the goal. It was the first of two power play goals for the Terriers, who were 2-for-12 for the game.
"We haven't spent much time on the power play so far," Terrier head coach Jack Parker said after the game, as his team had practiced just five days prior to the game.
The Terriers scored three times in the final period to put the game out of reach.
Baker collected a neat pass from junior Brian Collins (Shrewsbury) from just outside the St. Francis slot and beat Bateman to the left side, while the Terriers were skating a man down. The goal came at 5:26 of the final period.
Aufiero increased the lead to 3-0 at 10:02 of the period when his shot from the right point beat Bateman. Maiser earned the only assist on the power play goal.
Sophomore Frantisek Skladany (Martin, Slovakia) closed out the scoring at 19:11 of the period when he tapped home a shot from the left crease. Aufiero and freshman David Klema (Roseau, MN) were awarded the assists.
The game was marked by a total of 44 penalties for 134 minutes. St. Francis was whistled for 23 penalties for 73 minutes, while the Terriers were assessed 21 penalties for 61 minutes. The total included four 10-minute misconducts and two five-minute majors. In the first period alone there were a total of 28 penalties for 75 minutes. Each team had 14 minutes. St. Francis' infractions totaled 39 minutes, while the Terriers' added up to 36 minutes.
"The way the game started I thought we were going to be here until 2:00 o'clock in the morning," said Parker. "That's not what you want in your first game.
"But, things settled down from the middle of the second period on," the coach continued. "Until then, we took some dumb penalties. We can't take those types of penalties against good teams and expect to win."
Parker did turn to some positive things he saw in the game.
"I thought both goalies played well," said the coach. Fields, who played the first 53:47, had 10 saves, while Warren played the final 6:13 and had 3 saves.
"Of course, the defense played well in front of them," pointed out Parker.
"I was also very happy with how Aufiero and (senior Chris) Dyment (Reading) played on defense," said the coach. "And, I liked how Baker and Collins played up front.
"I was also very happy with how the freshmen played," concluded Parker. "A game like this is helpful for us because it gives us an idea of what we have to work on."
The Terriers will open their regular season next Saturday (October 13th) when they host RPI at 7:00 p.m.
