Terriers Drop League Opener To Merrimack Despite Sabo's Goals
October 22, 2002 | Men's Ice Hockey
| Game Statistics | Season Statistics |
Terrier senior John Sabo notched his third collegiate multiple-goal game but it was overshadowed by host Merrimack, which skated to a 5-3 win in the Hockey East opener for both teams on Tuesday night (October 22nd).
The Terriers, who went into the game ranked sixth in the nation in both the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine and U.S. College Hockey Online polls, suffered their first loss of the season. They are now 1-1-2 overall and 0-1-0 in the league. In the meantime, Merrimack, which had defeated the Terriers just nine times in their previous 64 meetings, enjoyed its first win of the season. The Warriors are now 1-2-1 for the season overall and 1-0-0 in Hockey East.
Merrimack jumped to a 1-0 lead at the 4:12 mark of the first period on a goal by Marco Rosa.
It was then Sabo's turn to answer as he scored in the closing seconds of the first period and the opening seconds of the second period. His first goal came with just 16 seconds showing on the clock, as he knocked in a rebound off a shot by junior Frantisek Skladany. Senior captain Freddy Meyer also picked up an assist. The goal tied the game, 1-1, as the two teams headed to their locker rooms for the first intermission.
Then, just 27 seconds into the second period Sabo put the Terriers ahead, 2-1. Again, he was situated in front of the net and scored off a rebound by Skladany.
Merrimack countered with goals by Nick Pomponio and Brent Gough. Pomponio's goal was set up on a shot from the right point by defenseman Bryan Schmidt. Pomponio, camped just to the left of Terrier goalie Sean Fields, deflected the puck past Fields for the game-tying goal at 7:44.
The Warriors took the lead at 13:06 when Gough stole the puck off the left wing boards deep inside the Terrier zone. He came skating down the slot and beat Fields at 7:44 to give his team a 3-2 advantage.
Terrier freshman Brad Zancanaro continued the scoring at 14:09 when he collected a rebound in front of Merrimack goalie Joe Exter and knocked it home for the equalizer. David VanderGulik and Brian Collins were credited with the assists.
Before the period ended, the Warriors scored again when Steve Crusco, located at the left faceoff circle, fired the puck to the far side of the goal. The puck found its way over Fields' left shoulder and under the crossbar, as Merrimack had its game-winner at 15:27.
The Warriors added an insurance goal at 11:16 of the third period when Eric Pederson's shot from the blue line found its way through a screen and past Fields.
For the first time this year, the Terriers did not dominate the shot totals. Through the first three games, they had outshot their opponents by a lopsided, 128-66, margin. Merrimack managed to equal the Terriers' shot total of 32.
"We just weren't ready to play tonight," said a disappointed Terrier head coach Jack Parker after the game. "We wanted this to be an easy night and it wasn't. Give Merrimack credit. They played well, and we didn't. There was a lack of effort out there on our part, and I have no idea why it happened.
"I thought that Sabo, (Freddy) Meyer, and (Ryan) Whitney played well," continued the coach. "But, after them, I can't find anyone who played up to his capabilities."
"I think maybe we lost our focus before the game," said Sabo, whose other two-goal games came last year. The first was against Boston College in the Beanpot on February 4th, while the other was vs. UMass/Lowell on February 15th. "I thought we would bounce back after our tie against Vermont last Friday, but we didn't.
"Merrimack played us hard," continued Sabo. "Maybe we took them too lightly. They played well, and they outplayed us. We just didn't play our positions right.
"I really don't want to make excuses, but we just weren't focused tonight," he concluded.
