Re: Mercyhurst Lakers: The HOME stretch
I'm one of the Brown parents who saw last weekends game live in the stands. My normal MO would be to say nothing at all after a game like the one on Saturday. However, given this discussion, feel compelled to respond to add some important facts and views that are missing from the story painted here sofar. I'll address several previous comments inline below.
First here is my summary/view of the game followed by responses to some of the other comments from previous postings.
IMHO, Brown actually played a better game on Saturday compared to Friday, but the game got away from them early in the third. MC is clearly a much better team than Brown, there is no disputing that.
One key problem Brown faced all weekend was the lethal MC power play. In both games, MC got on the board with a PP goal to open the scoring.
In the Saturday game the game was 3-0 after the first period. Brown battled hard in the second period with some fantastic goaltending by the Brown freshman goaler to keep the game at 3-0 until late in the second. Late in the second MC gets two PP opportunities in short succession, and they cashed in on both to go into the second intermission up 5-0, with 3 of the five goals being on the PP. One of those late second period calls was very marginal at best. This took the sail out of Brown's efforts, and MC pounced on a couple of chances early in the third to turn a 5-0 game into an 8-0 game.
Brown then made a goalie switch from the freshman to the third string goaler, who had yet to see any ice time this year. It is at this point Mercyhurst could have decided to just play out the game, but instead they decided to poor it on. I truly felt sorry for the Brown goalie who let in 4 goals in a pretty short time span (about 5 minutes) to turn a 8-0 game into a 12-0 score. She is a great kid and a fantastic supporter for the team on the bench.
Once it was 12-0, with about 9 minutes to go, Brown put in their first stringer. She stopped all shots she faced the rest of the way. What happened in those last 9 minutes was most interesting to watch. Why were the top players from MC still playing in a 12-0 game. Why were they laughing and celebrating on the bench when a Brown goal got called off late in the game due to an off-side. Sure enjoy your shutout, but please, celebrating and cheering on the bench in a 12-0 game. There is no need for that.
No whining here, and no personal interest in Brown or MC. Your perspective may well be valid, I didn't see the game; although from what I've heard from a Brown parent who did, your view is not universally held.
You are correct. There were several Brown parents who were very upset at what happened in the third period on Saturday, specifically on how MC approached the game after it was 8-0. Some of these parents played the game themselves at the college level, so they are quite familiar with proper hockey etiquette.
Seriously, Dad, you have to quit whining about the score. Just looking at the score sheet it appears they won pretty fair and square in their 12-0 beating. 14 of the 18 players had at least 1 point (or put another way, only 4 players did not register a point). Therefore, it seems pretty apparent that they were not just playing the top two lines..
They should have reduced the playing time of the top lines after it was 8-0 when Brown put in their spare goaler. This was a NC game. The extra goals in the third have no meaning in the grander scheme of things other than stats padding.
The game was 5-0 at the end of the 2nd period. Sure they could have relaxed but that wasn't that outrageous of a score. The bears just fell apart in the third. There was one quick goal scored at the beginning of the third and then 3 scored with in 90 seconds at the 4 minute mark. Each time, the lines were changed and each time they scored (who is the coach supposed to put out there on the lines? the equipment manager? back-up goalie?) Maybe Brown picked it up a bit and decided to play defense for awhile but that only lasted 2.5 minutes before three more goals were scored (again, different goal scorers).
Again MC could have reduced the playing time of the top lines after it was 6-0 early in the third. Brown changed their goalers twice in the third in an attempt to stop the bleeding. If this had been a men's game the fistacups would have come out early in the third, and you would sit the top players to protect them from extra curricular activities.
I give a lot of credit to the Brown players and coaches for sucking it up and quietly playing out the game. To me that showed a lot more class then that displayed by the winning team.
Given that Mercyhurst didn't score a single goal in the last 9 minutes, I would guess that they were showing a bit of "Mercy".
Nope, this had more to do with Brown putting in their first string goaler, who had played the Friday game.
Brown just got embarrassed so deal with it and move on...
We were moving until this debate broke out, which compelled me to respond, to provide a bit a perspective from a Brown parent point of view.
In regards to the Brown game, a couple of points. Merychurst started their backup goalie and gave playing time to their third string goalie. Brown went to their third string goalie after the starter gave up three goals in the first 4:37 of the third. Merychurst scored four goals on their next six shots. Was Hurst supposed to stop shooting because the third string goalie is in the game? Merychurst wants their third string to goalie to see some action. If I was a third string goalie who got some playing time against a top team, I would be pretty irked if the other team stopped playing just because I was in goal.
Once Brown put in their third goaler (8-0 score line early in the third), MC could have elected to do several things. One, sit their top players, which serves the dual purpose of respecting for the opponent and creating team chemistry. Two, keep the game in the offensive zone at the perimeter. Three, put the third and fourth lines out on the PP. Four, play a simple dump and chase game. Five, have at least three passes in a row before you are allowed to shoot.
MC did not switch to their third goaler until real late in the game with about 3 minutes left. Not that it matters much, but I would have kept the back-up in so she could earn the full shutout, specially considering she does not get into that many games to start with. Her current line shows she has been in five games with no shutouts.
In closing I'll say this. Brown has faced Cornell, BU and MC (2x) over the last two weeks. All three of these opponents are great teams, loaded with talent. As a hockey fan appreciate the skill they bring to the rink. It is enjoyable to watch. Actually enjoyed watching the Friday game, even though we lost 6-0. MC's power play is great to watch, and it is a treat to watch MC's top players in action, just like it is great to watch the greats on BU and Cornell. However, the third period on Saturday, left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I was far from alone in that feeling.
Just my two cents.
NewbieBear.
