Balanced Attack Leads Terriers Past Merrimack In League Action
November 12, 2004 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON, MA-Six different players scored goals to lead a balanced Boston University attack to a 6-4 win over Merrimack College in a Hockey East game on Friday night.
A crowd of 3799 watched as the Terriers improved to 4-3-0 overall and 3-1-0 in the league, while the Warriors slipped to 3-6-0 overall and 1-4-0 in conference play.
It kept the Terriers' home record for the season perfect as all four of their wins this year have come at Brown Arena, while they are 0-3-0 on the road. What's more, it marked the 40th time since January 1972 that Merrimack had visited Brown Arena, and the Warriors have won just five times while there has been just one tie. In the meantime, the Terriers have beaten Merrimack 34 times on their home ice.
The Terriers led at each juncture-2-1 at the end of the first period and 5-3 after the second.
John Laliberte (Saco, ME) and Bryan Miller (Wayne, NJ) scored in the first period to offset a shorthanded goal by Merrimack's Jordan Black.
Ryan Sullivan opened the second period for Merrimack at 1:42 to tie the game, 2-2, before the Terriers came back on goals by Ken Roche (South Boston) and Ryan Monaghan at 5:58 and 7:16, respectively, to the Terriers a 4-2 lead. The Terriers would never relinquish the lead although the Warriors made it interesting when Justin Mills cut his team's deficit to just one goal, 4-3, at 16:47 of the second period.
Ryan Weston (Henniker, NH) got that goal back with just 44 seconds to play in the second period to give the Terriers a two-goal cushion entering the final period.
David Van der Gulik (Abbottsford, BC) put the game out of reach with a wrap-around goal at 6:37 of the final period as the Terriers led, 6-3. Again, the Warriors battled back as Mike Alexiou scored at 15:39 of the final period to close out the scoring.
John Curry (Shorewood, MN) earned the win in the Terrier goal with 20 saves, while Jim Healey had 31 saves in the losing effort.
"You have to give B.U. credit tonight," said Merrimack coach Chris Serino. "They won all the battles to the puck. We just ran around in our end and let up three or four soft goals. We gave up a couple of power play goals on mental breakdowns.
"They outworked us and beat us to every puck," continued Serino. "And, in this building, they feed off that.
"I will miss this place," said Serino, whose team made its final appearance in Walter Brown Arena. The next game between these two teams will be played on January 27, 2005, and by then the Terriers will be in their new 6300-seat Agganis Arena.
"Generally I thought we played very well tonight," said Terrier head coach Jack Parker. "I thought we looked quick and played with intensity, and we had to do that against a physical team that skates well.
"The only thing I wasn't happy with was our penalty kill," said Parker, whose team killed off 5-of-6 power play chances by the Warriors. "And, faceoffs continue to hurt us.
"Individually, I thought we got excellent games from Laliberte (goal and an assist), Roche (goal and an assist), Miller (one goal), and Spang (one assist)," continued the coach. "I also thought we got an excellent effort from our first line (Brad Zancanaro centering Van der Gulik on the left and Laliberte on the right.) tonight.
"Weston (goal and assist) gave us a great game," offered the coach. "He was all over the ice. He is big and can really get around."
Weston was one of seven freshmen to play, and five of them had at least one point.
"The freshmen have added enthusiasm and quickness to our team," said Parker. "They have raised the entire skill level of the team."
The two teams will go at it again on Saturday night, but this time it will be at Merrimack's Lawler Arena.
"It is a huge game for us," said Parker. "We have to establish ourselves as a road team. In order to come away with a win, we will have to play with more intensity."
