NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - Filip Forsmark led the charge offensively Saturday night at Lawler Rink, as his three points lifted the Merrimack College men's hockey team to a 6-2 victory over New Hampshire.
All three of the sophomore's points came on the power play, as the Warriors converted on all four chances they had with the extra skater to blow past the Wildcats.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 6, New Hampshire 2
Records: Merrimack (4-10-2, 4-10-2 HEA) | New Hampshire (5-13-3, 5-13-3 HEA)
Game Duration: 2:23
How It Happened
- Merrimack's red hot power play kept clicking in the first period. Midway through the frame, Forsmark and Logan Drevitch ran a play in the right faceoff dot that gave Drevitch the puck along the goal line. The junior somehow snuck a wrist shot from a nearly impossible angle under the bar and over the shoulder of Wildcat netminder, Mike Robinson. Zach Vinnell also earned an assist on the tally.
- The host's man advantage went back to work a couple minutes later and cashed in once again, but this time Forsmark got the marker. From the left half wall, Zach Uens shuffled a quick pass in to Liam Walsh goal line extended to the right of Robinson. The sophomore deftly deflected a feed through the slot to Forsmark, who ripped home his third on the campaign from point blank.
-Zachary Borgiel stood tall to begin the second period, as the Wildcats looked to cut the deficit in half, but the freshman goalie knocked away all seven shots he saw. With under five minutes to go in the stanza, Merrimack went back to the power play and kept the magic alive.
- Uens fed Declan Carlile at the point, then the sophomore slid a pass to Chase Gresock on the right side. The captain ripped a shot that was blocked, but he collected his own rebound and batted home his fourth of the year.
-New Hampshire quickly got back in the game in the three minutes after Gresock's tally, as they put a pair past Borgiel to make it a 3-2 contest.
- The Warriors had an overwhelming response to the Wildcats' quick burst of life, as Max Newton fired a slap shot home during a delayed penalty on a feed from Ben Brar. Dominic Dockery also gained an assist on the play.
- Just like they had all weekend, the Warriors converted on the ensuing power play. After another sleek passing sequence from Drevitch and Forsmark, Walsh banged it home from in-tight to extend the lead to three.
- Brar got a marker of his own with just under six minutes to play when he took a long feed from Dockery and sniped a wrist shot high over the shoulder of Robinson. Newton earned an assist on the tally as well.
Notes & Numbers
- Seven players registered multi-point games for the Warriors, led by Forsmark's career-high three.
- Borgiel totaled 24 saves to earn his fourth collegiate victory.
- Carlile (6) and Dockery (5) combined for 11 blocked shots, which was nearly more than the Wildcats combined for as a team.
- Walsh's five shots was a game-high.
- Newton, Brar and Gresock all finished with game-high +2 ratings.
- Merrimack's special teams were nearly perfect on the weekend. The power play combined to go 6-for-7 in the two games, while the penalty kill went 10-for-10. The penalty kill unit has now killed off 13 consecutive opportunities.
- Carlile's three-game point streak now includes six assists, including four in the past two games alone.
- Forsmark took over the team's scoring lead with the effort with 11 points in 16 games.
- Newton registered his 100th career game in the victory. All but seven of his 100 came during his time with Alaska.
Up Next
Hockey East is now announcing schedules on a week-by-week basis. Two more weeks remain in the league's regular season.
