MERRIMACK COLLEGE RALLIES PAST NORTHEASTERN, 4-2
Junior forward Mike Collins and junior defenseman Jordan Heywood each post goal and assist for Warriors

Junior forward Mike Collins had a goal and an assist for the Warriors

NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Junior forward Mike Collins (Boston, Mass.) recorded his fourth straight multi-point game as the Warriors downed the #15 Northeastern Huskies in front of a sold out Lawler Arena on Homecoming. Collins recorded the game-tying goal in the second period and assisted on Jordan Heywood's (Regina, SK) game winning tally in the third.

Merrimack (4-3-1, 3-1-1 HEA) will return home next Friday, November 9 as they will play host to Boston University for a 7:300 p.m. start. The game will be aired live locally on WBIN.

Eight different Warriors recorded at least one point during the victory including three freshman skaters.

Vinny Saponari opened the scoring for the Huskies just under eight minutes into play as he beat Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) with a shot between his legs. Less than seven minutes the Huskies stretched the lead to two on the power play as Mike McMurty found the back of the net.

Merrimack came out early in the second period and got on the board as Shawn Bates (Saskatechewan, AB) had his original shot blocked but it found its way back on his stick and he beat Chris Rawlings, making the score 2-1.

With the second period winding down, Collins rakced up his fifth goal of the season after a great pass from Vinny Scotti (Vineland, NJ). Heywood picked up the secondary assist on Collins' goal.

After two periods of play the two teams were pretty even with Merrimack recording 21 shots and Northeastern 20.

The Warriors dominated the third period of action and they were rewarded as Collins fought off a Northeastern defender on the wall in the offensive zone and kicked a pass to Heywood who beat Rawlings over the shoulder for the game-winning goal with 3:28 remaining in the game.

Freshman Justin Hussar (Lancaster, NY) sealed the game with his first career goal, an empty net goal, with one second on the clock after a nice blocked shot by fellow freshman Ben Bahe (Stillwater, MN).

Merrimack finished the game going 0-6 on the power play, ending a streak of three straight games with at least one power play tally. The Huskies finished the game going 1-2 on their man up opportunities.

Tirronen picked up his first career victory on the night as he finished the game with 24 saves including 10 saves in the middle frame. His counterpart, Rawlings, made 29 saves on the night as the Warriors outshot the Huskies 33-26 for the game.

With the win Merrimack improves to 5-1-1 in their last seven matchups with the Huskies and win the season series 2-1.