NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team was within a goal of No. 13/12 Northeastern after 40 minutes, but the Huskies pulled away with five third-period goals to hand the Warriors a 7-2 setback in both schools' first-semester finale on Saturday night at Lawler Rink.
The Basics
Score: Northeastern 7, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (4-12-1, 2-8-0 HEA) | #13/12 Northeastern (10-3-1, 6-1-1 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 2,120
Game Duration: 2:17
How It Happened
- An entertaining opening frame saw the Huskies build a two-goal lead before junior Cole McBride got the Warriors on the board late in the stanza to make it 2-1 in favor of the visitors after 20 minutes. Merrimack found itself behind the eight-ball after an early game misconduct penalty left it shorthanded; the Huskies capitalized on that major and then scored again late before McBride's heroics cut the deficit in half.
- Merrimack couldn't tickle the twine in the second period despite outshooting the Huskies by an 11-4 tally and out-possessing them by a wider margin, as the score stayed 2-1 in favor of the visitors heading to the third.
- Northeastern made those missed opportunities hurt in the third, as the Huskies scored four straight to build a 6-1 lead that proved to be insurmountable. Junior Sami Tavernier netted his second of the year with just over eight minutes left, but was the closest the Warriors would get before the horn sounded on the first half.
Highlights
- Tavernier netted his second goal of the year and first since the season opener.
- Sophomore Dominic Dockery added two more blocks to his league-leading total. Tavernier and junior Jeff Solow also had two rejections.
- Junior Drew Vogler finished with 17 saves in net.
- Senior Derek Petti led all players with 14 faceoff wins, taking 14-of-11 draws.
Notes & Numbers
- Merrimack is now winless in its last nine games against Northeastern dating back to the 2015 postseason. Its last win was in March of 2015 in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round.
- The Warriors also saw their season-long winless streak move to six games (0-5-1). Merrimack's last win was at Bemidji State on Nov. 10 (1-0).
- Goaltenders: Drew Vogler (17 saves, 0-3-0) // Cayden Primeau (27 saves, 10-3-1)
- Power Plays: 1-5 | 2-5
- Shots on Goal: 8-10 // 11-4 // 10-10 - 29-24
- Faceoffs: 26 // 36
- Blocks: 10 // 20
Merrimack Lineup
Forwards
Gresock | Petti | Irvine
L. Drevitch | Kramer | Tavernier
Coomes | Babcock | von Ungern-Sternberg
Olsen | T. Drevitch | McBride
Simeone
Defense
Dockery | Cook
Solow | Kovacevic
Carle | McArdle
Solow
Goaltenders
Vogler | Pantano | Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack will break for exams and return after the holiday break with a home matchup against 2017 national champion Denver on Friday, Dec. 28, at 7 p.m.
