Johnson's Hat Trick Powers Terriers Past Harvard, 8-4
November 20, 2001 | Men's Ice Hockey
Sophomore Gregg Johnson (Windsor, CT) notched his first collegiate hat trick, and his linemates Kenny Magowan (Kelowna, BC) and Frantisek Skladany (Martin, Slovakia) combined for one goal and six assists as the Terrier hockey team skated to an 8-4 win over host Harvard University on Tuesday night (November 20th).
The victory upped the Terriers' record to 7-1-1 and it put B.U. back on the winning track after losing to Boston College, 3-1, last Saturday night (November 7th).
The trio of Johnson centering Magowan on the left and Skladany on the right, had been the Terriers' most potent line all season as they came into the game with a combined total of 6-18-24. They left Harvard's Bright Hockey Center with a nine-game total now of 10-24-34. That's quite a total for three sophomores, who last year had a combined total of 14-11-25.
"I think the secret to our line's success this year has been that we have now been together for a couple of months and the chemistry is there," said Johnson, who can't remember the last time he had a hat trick in a game. "The three of us are really close off the ice as well as one it."
Ironically, Johnson had not had a goal all year. Instead, he entered the game with a team-leading eight assists.
"It was like I had been snake bit this year," he said. "I was getting the shots off, but the goalies were making the saves, or I was hitting the post.
"For some reason, the puck wasn't going in for me," Johnson went on. "I stayed calm and was focused because I knew I would eventually score a goal.
"When the first one went in, I breathed a sigh of relief," he said. His first goal, which proved to be the game-winner, came at 17:35 of the second period, and it capped the best-scoring period of the season for the Terriers.
Trailing 1-0 at the end of the first period, B.U. erupted for five goals in the middle period, while Harvard could score just once as the Terriers led 5-2 after two periods.
"That fifth goal was probably the biggest goal of the game," Terrier head coach Jack Parker said after the game.
The way the game started, Parker wasn't sure his team could score five goals in the game let alone in a period.
"We were back on our heals in the first 10 minutes of the game," said the coach. "Maybe we were still thinking of the BC game. We finished the period with 10 shots, but I'll bet seven of them came in the final 10 minutes of the period."
While the Terriers were coming back to life in the second half of that opening period, it was Harvard that got on the scoreboard first when Tim Pettit scored the first of his two power play goals at 15:05 of the first period.
The second period, though, belonged to the Terriers.
Freshman Ryan Whitney (Scituate) scored his first collegiate goal at 3:20 of the period with the assists going to freshman Justin Maiser (Edina, MN) and senior co-captain Mike Pandolfo (Burlington).
That goal opened the flood gates as it was followed by Skladany's goal at 7:00, a power play goal by Pandolfo at 10:55, and a power play goal by freshman Brian McConnell (Norfolk) at 14:59.
"We went up by 4-1 and then we had a letdown," said Parker.
Rob Flynn scored for the Crimson at 15:09.
A little more than two minutes later, Johnson scored his first goal of the game and the Terriers had their 5-2 lead entering the final period.
Johnson improved B.U.'s lead to 6-2 on a power play goal at 1:39 of the third period.
"We couldn't stand prosperity," is how Parker explained what then happened.
The Crimson scored twice to cut the Terriers' lead to 6-3.
First, Rob Reid scored at 4:25 to make it 6-2, and that was followed by Pettit's second power play goal of the game, and the Terriers' lead was cut to just three goals.
That's as far as the Crimson would get, as junior John Sabo (Harding Township, NJ) scored at 12:06 and Johnson closed out his hat trick effort at 17:40.
"At times, we were thorough out there tonight and at times we were inept," said Parker.
Aside from the Johnson-Magowan-Skladany line, Parker singled out the play of three of his defensemen-senior Pat Aufiero (Winchester), Whitney, and senior co-captain Chris Dyment (Reading).
The coach was also pleased with the Terriers' power play unit which scored a season-high three power play goals on five chances. All three were scored by forwards-Pandolfo, McConnell, and Johnson.
"It was nice that someone other than our defensemen scored on our power play," concluded Parker.
After playing their last four games on the road, the Terriers return to Walter Brown Arena this weekend to play Cornell on Saturday and Sunday. Both games will be carried live at 3:00 p.m. on Fox Sports New England.
