NO. ANDOVER, Mass. - Freshman forward Colin Wilson scored a goal and added three assists as Boston University skated to a 6-4 win over Merrimack College on Friday night at J. Thom Lawler Arena.
BU once led 5-1 in the second period but Merrimack cut the lead to 5-4 before Pete MacArthur scored an empty-netter to put the game away.
Chris Barton got the Warriors on the board early, finding a loose puck and firing it past BU goaltender Brent Bennett on the power play to give Merrimack the 1-0 lead at 9:51 of the first.
But the Warriors, who were 6-1-2 entering the game when scoring first, surrendered the next five goals to BU, including four in the second as the Terriers outshot Merrimack 20-5 in the middle period.
Nick Bonino tied the score two minutes after Barton's goal on the power play with Matt Gilroy and Chris Higgins notching assists. Then in the second, Gilroy gave his team the 2-1 lead as he wristed a shot over the glove of Andrew Braithwaite just 10 seconds into the period. Bryan Ewing followed with his 12th of the season 1:16 later, extending the lead to 3-1. Brian McGuirk and Colin Wilson increased the BU's lead to 5-1 as they scored 3:44 apart midway through the second, giving the visitors a commanding lead.
Just 1:33 after Wilson's sixth of the season, Francois Ouimet tallied his fifth, putting one past Bennett after Mike Vaskivuo stole the puck in the Terrier zone.
Joe Loprieno gave the Warrior crowd life after he fired a slap shot from the point into the net for his first of the season, just 28 seconds into the third to cut the lead to 5-3. Then with Braithwaite pulled for the extra attacker, Barton picked up his second of the game, as he found another puck in front of Bennett and buried it for the Warriors' third straight goal with 1:54 to go in regulation. Rob Ricci and Fraser Allan picked up assists on both Loprieno and Barton’s third-period goals.
Ricci tallied three assists for the Warriors, giving him 15 on the season, while Barton notched his first career multi-goal game. Allan was solid on the blue line, posting two assists. Braithwaite stopped 26 shots and could not be faulted for the Terrier second-period outburst.
Bennett stopped 20 shots, including three break-away attempts, one in each period for J.C. Robitaille. Wilson finished with a goal and three assists while Ewing added a goal and two helpers.
The Warriors (8-11-2, 4-11-1 HEA) visit Brown University for a non-conference matchup Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. in Providence, RI. The game was originally scheduled for 4 p.m. but moved to accommodate the New England Patriots AFC Championship game at 3 p.m. BU (7-11-3, 6-6-2 HEA) heads to Boston College for a big showdown at 7 p.m. Saturday.