| Prd | Time | Team | Score | Type | Scored By | Assists |
| 2nd | 1:32 | QUI | 1-0 | EV | MacKenzie Lancaster (6) | - |
| 3rd | 12:13 | MER | 1-1 | EV GT | Paige Voight (8) | Katelyn Rae/2 |
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | Final |
| Merrimack | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Quinnipiac | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Shots on Goal | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | OT | SOG |
| Merrimack | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 12 |
| Quinnipiac | 14 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 44 |
| Team Stats and Records | PP | PIM | SHGF |
| Merrimack (4-10-2) | 0/3 | 4/8 | 0 |
| Quinnipiac (10-4-3) | 0/4 | 3/6 | 0 |
| Merrimack Goaltending | MIN | GA | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Saves |
| Samantha Ridgewell (T, 0-3-2) | 65:00 | 1 | 14 | 17 | 8 | 4 | 43 |
| Quinnipiac Goaltending | MIN | GA | 1 | 2 | 3 | OT | Saves |
| Sydney Rossman (T, 9-4-2) | 65:00 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 |
HAMDEN, Conn. - Led by the second straight season-high performance of 43 saves from sophomore goaltender Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saskatchewan), the Merrimack College women's ice hockey team skated to a 1-1 tie with #8/9 Quinnipiac in the first round of the Nutmeg Classic on Friday afternoon. Merrimack went on to advance to the Nutmeg Classic final on Saturday in a shootout.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, #8/9 Quinnipiac 1
Records: Merrimack (4-10-2, 2-7-0 HEA) | #8/9 Quinnipiac (10-4-3, 5-2-1 ECAC)
Location: High Point Solutions Arena| Hamden, Conn.
How It Happened
- Merrimack essentially began the game on the penalty kill, as the Warriors took a penalty just 32 seconds into the first period to go down 5-on-4. Sophomore goaltender Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saskatchewan) would make a pair of quality saves on the game-opening kill to keep the game scoreless, but the Warriors would find themselves battling back for much of the first period after giving the Bobcats the early wave of momentum.
- Quinnipiac was heavily favored in offensive zone time in the opening frame, but 14 saves from Ridgewell and a solid job with blocking shots in their own end from the Warriors kept the game scoreless after the first period.
- The Bobcats' constant offensive pressure would eventually result in a goal just 1:32 into the second period after a steal and quick shot on net in Merrimack's end surprised Ridgewell and snuck by for the first score of the game.
- Merrimack nearly answered Quinnipiac's score just seconds after taking a lead as freshman Andrea Olson (Stillwater, Minn.) would rush in a get a shot on net off the following faceoff that rang off the post, just missing out on immediately tying the game back up.
- Quinnipiac would continue to get their chances in the second period, firing shots on net from all over the zone, but a poised Ridgewell kept the Bobcats out of the net after their early-period goal. The Warriors would too get chances in the second, racking up a good stretch of offensive zone time that saw yet another Merrimack shot hit the post. Sophomore Paige Voight (St. Michael, Minn.) got the chance after receiving a long pass, skating by a defender and firing a quick wrist shot on the ice that beat the tender but hit the post square.
- The Warriors continued that pressure into the third period, sporting a much more aggressive forecheck in the final frame. With Ridgewell keeping them right in the game, the Warriors would finally get on the board just past the midway point of the third. After breaking up a play in the defensive end, sophomore Katelyn Rae (Courtice, Ontario) would carry the puck in Quinnipiac's end and find an uncovered Voight going to the net who would deke backhand around the goaltender and score to tie the game up at 1-1.
- Merrimack would take an ill-timed penalty with 1:42 remaining in regulation, but we able to kill off the penalty as it rolled over into the five minute overtime period. The Warriors would bookend the overtime with penalties, as they also were forced to go down a player for the final 1:32 of overtime, but did so successfully to send the game to a shootout.
- In what was a planned for a three-player shootout for each team, Merrimack would need just two as Ridgewell made two phenomenal saves on Quinnipiac's attempts while Voight and freshman Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Brampton, Ontario) each converted on their attempts to advance Merrimack to the Nutmeg Classic final.
Inside The Numbers
- Ridgewell registered her second consecutive performance of an impressive 43 saves, which is a season-high for the sophomore but still sits 12 saves behind her career-high of 55. She has made at least 31 saves in each of her last four starts.
- Voight's goal marks her eighth of the season and ties her for the team lead in both goals (8) and points (12) through 16 games. She is just three goals shy of her season total from last year (11) that she set in 34 games.
- Goaltenders: T - Ridgewell (0-3-2, 43 saves) | T - Rossman (9-4-1, 11 saves)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (0-2) | QU (0-4)
- SOG: MC - 12 | QU - 44
Up Next
The Warriors will take on either UConn or Yale in the Nutmeg Classic final game Saturday night at 6:00 p.m. at Quinnipiac