NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Five different Warriors tallied a goal as #18 Merrimack extended its unbeaten streak to five, remaining unbeaten at home with a 5-3 victory over #7 Boston College in front of a sellout crowd of 2,772 at Lawler Arena Friday afternoon.
Merrimack (5-2-4, 4-2-3 HEA) hits the ice again Saturday at #6 New Hampshire at 7 p.m. The Eagles (7-5-0, 5-4-0 HEA) will host Vermont Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum.
Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) led the way, breaking his five-game scoreless streak with a goal and two assists, while Jesse Todd (Camrose, AB) and Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) also had multi-point games.
Ranked for the first time in school history, the Warriors earned the season-series victory over the Eagles for the first time since the 1996-97 campaign with their third straight home win over the defending National Champs. They also improved to 4-0-1 at home this year and 16-3-2 since the beginning of last season.
After Cam Atkinson notched his first of two first-period markers, Todd and Francois Ouimet (Lorraine, QC) scored 1:16 apart to give the Warriors the short-lived 2-1 lead. Todd took a stretch pass from Da Costa and beat John Muse for the breakaway tally, his team-leading sixth of the season at 14:39.
Moments later, Ouimet netted his first goal since October 23, 2009, wristing home a rebound off a shot from Cucci to put the hosts in front at 15:34.
But Atkinson answered with his second of the period and 10th of the season, putting home a rebound off a Brian Gibbons shot with 35-seconds left in the first to send the teams to the locker room tied at two.
After the Warriors' penalty kill killed off a five-minute major, Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY) gave Merrimack the lead with his third of the year, beating Muse on a breakaway off feeds from Cucci and Da Costa at 13:19 of the second.
The Eagles outshot Merrimack 11-7 in the second, but Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) turned aside all of them, including three breakaway stops, one being a great glove save off Chris Kreider midway through the period.
Chris Barton (Calgary, AB) scored what proved to be the game-winner, gathering a loose puck in front of the crease and wristing it past Muse for his fourth of the year at 1:57 of the third.
Patrick Wey made it a one-goal game again at 4-3 with a power-play marker, the first of his career at 7:23 of the third, but the Warriors held from there, spending the final 2:43 of the game on the power play, with Da Costa burying an empty-netter with eight-seconds remaining to secure the win.
Cannata finished with 24 saves, including three breakaway stops, as the Warriors outshot the Eagles 32-27 in the win.