Northeastern Notches 5-2 Win At Merrimack
Senior forward Mike McMurtry posts goal and two assists for the Huskies

Senior forward Mike McMurtry had a goal and two assists for the Huskies
Prd Time  Team Score Type Scored By Assists
1st 5:06  MER1-0 EV Brett Seney (5)Jared Kolquist/8, Mathieu Tibbet/2
2nd 1:23  NOE1-1 EV Dylan Sikura (6)Mike McMurtry/13, Adam Gaudette/10
2nd 3:48  MER2-1 EV Mathieu Tibbet (4)Brian Christie/14
2nd 8:53  NOE2-2 EV Mike McMurtry (4)Adam Gaudette/11, Dustin Darou/1
2nd 17:24  NOE3-2 EV GW Lincoln Griffin (4)Sam Kurker/8
3rd 0:29  NOE4-2 EV John Stevens (7)Nolan Stevens/9, Jarrett Fennell/4
3rd 2:00  NOE5-2 EV Dylan Sikura (7)Kevin Roy/6, Mike McMurtry/14
Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd Final
Northeastern  0325
Merrimack  1102
Shots on Goal 1st 2nd 3rd SOG
Northeastern  1612533
Merrimack  611724
Team Stats and Records  PP PIM SHGF
Northeastern (8-12-4)  0/6 7/14 0
Merrimack (7-12-5)  0/6 7/14 0
Northeastern Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Ryan Ruck (W, 6-9-3)60:002 510722
Merrimack Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Collin Delia (L, 6-9-5)60:005 169328

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team watched its second-period lead evaporate after surrendering four unanswered goals, as visiting Northeastern took the opener of the two teams' weekend home-and-home series with a 5-2 victory on Friday night at Lawler Rink.

The Basics Score: Northeastern 5, Merrimack 2 Records: Merrimack (7-12-5, 2-6-5 HEA) | Northeastern (8-12-4, 3-8-3 HEA) Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.

How It Happened Meeting for the first time since Merrimack stunned Northeastern in the first round of last year's Hockey East Tournament, the Warriors returned to Lawler Rink for the first time in seven games looking to snap a seven-game losing streak.

Sophomore Brett Seney (London, Ontario) gave the home crowd reason to cheer just over five minutes into the contest, redirecting a feed in the slot from classmate Jared Kolquist (Hermantown, Minn.), who one-timed a feed at the top of the left-wing circle from fellow sophomore Mathieu Tibbet (Dover, Del.) to account for the opening strike.

While neither side scored over the remainder of the first period, both teams had quite a few opportunities; Northeastern - which outshot by the hosts by a 16-6 margin in the opening stanza - also had nearly a minute-and-a-half worth of 5-on-3 time and Merrimack had a late power play chance of its own, but the buzzer sounded with the Warriors leading by one at the end of 20 minutes.

The second period was far more eventful in terms of offense, as both sides combined for four goals, including three from the Huskies.

Dylan Sikura evened things up at 1:23 after finding a centering feed that ricocheted off the skate of Mike McMurtry, but Tibbet answered for the Warriors just over two minutes later after one-timing a behind-the-net pass from senior Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.) to restore the lead at 3:48.

But McMurtry would factor into his second goal of the game after burying a third-chance rebound at the 8:53 mark before the Huskies fought off back-to-back penalties midway through the period. Merrimack would come up empty on consecutive power plays, and Northeastern capitalized on those missed opportunities, as Landon Griffin gave the visitors their first lead of the night off a turnover at 17:24 to send the Huskies into the locker room ahead by a 3-2 margin.

An unlucky bounce off a dump-in led to Northeastern's fourth goal of the night just 29 seconds into the third, and the Huskies ran up that lead to three after a Sikura one-timer from the near circle made it a 5-2 edge for the Huskies.

That score held the rest of the way as Northeastern netminder Ryan Ruck stopped all seven shots he saw in the final frame.

How They Scored MC #1 | P1 5:06 - Seney redirects in a one-timer from Kolquist in the slot and over Ruck's glove.

NU #1 | P2 1:23 - Sikura one-timer at the weak side of the crease after a centering feed from Gaudette tips off the skates of McMurtry and goes all the way through.

MC #2 | P2 3:48 - Tibbet one-timer from the near dot off a behind-the-net feed from Christie.

NU #2 | P2 8:53 - McMurtry pokes in a third-chance rebound to cap off a mad scramble in front of the net.

NU #3 | P2 17:24 - Kurker forces a turnover behind the net before sliding it to Griffin alone in front, who slips it past Collin Delia for the go-ahead tally.

NU #4 | P3 0:29 - One-timer from the right edge of the slot by Stevens after the puck takes a fluky bounce off the corner boards right to a Northeastern skater off a dump-in to set up an easy goal.

NU #5 | P3 2:00 - Tic-tac-toe passing sequence leads to a one-timer goal from the bottom of the near circle from Sikura.

Notes and Numbers

Sikura paced Northeastern with two goals, while McMurtry highlighted the night offensively with a three-point outing (1g, 2a) Tibbet finished with his second multi-point performance of the season (1g, 1a) and his first since a two-goal effort against Clarkson back on Oct. 16 Merrimack has now lost eight in a row for the first time since the 2008-09 season, when the Warriors dropped eight straight from Jan. 9 through Feb. 6 Merrimack fell to an even 4-4-3 at home this season with the loss Power Plays: Merrimack 0-6 | Northeastern 0-6 SOG (MC-NU): 6-16 // 11-12 // 7-5 // 24-33 Faceoffs: 36-of-62 (58.1%)

Up Next Merrimack and Northeastern conclude the weekend home-and-home series tomorrow night in Boston, as the Warriors make the trip to Matthews Arena for a 7 p.m. puck drop.