Ouimet's Two Goals Give Hockey the Opening Night Victory
Boxscore
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack hockey team successfully
killed off nine power plays, shutting down the Robert Morris
offense in a 3-1 win Saturday night at Lawler Arena.
The Warriors also staved off two two-man advantages, one that
lasted 1:49, the other 1:46, with the latter occurring in the final
half of the third period.
Merrimack dominated early, outshooting the Colonials 17-6 in the
first and 10-2 in the first five minutes. After killing a two-man
advantage of 1:49, they got on the board just after a RMU penalty
expiered as Francois Ouimet (Lorraine, Quebec)
hammered home a rebound off a Joe Cucci (Melrose Park,
IL) shot. Chris Barton (Calgary, Alberta)
earned the other assist on Ouimet's first of the season at
17:39.
Robert Morris evened the score late in the second as Ron Cramer
found a rebound off a Branden Gay shot in front of Andrew
Braithwaite (Kingston, Ontario) and knocked it past the
goaltender for his first collegiate tally at 18:17.
J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, Quebec) notched
the game-winning goal, as he fired a slapper from the slot past the
blocker of goaltender Wes Russell at 1:57 of the third.
Robtaille's line mates, Pat Kimball (Framingham,
MA) and Justin Bonitatibus (Arlington,
MA) got the assists, with Kimball back-handing a feed to
Robitaille in the slot for the goal.
Merrimack held on from there, killing four penalties in the final
period, including the lengthy two-man advantage. They blocked 13
shots in the game, including three on the two-man advantage in the
third period.
Ouimet added an empty-netter late with Cucci and Grant
Farrell (Calgary, Alberta) getting the assists.
Braithwaite was solid in net stopping 24 shots. Merrimack outshot
the Colonials 32-24, as Russell matched Braithwaite save-for-save,
turning aside 29 shots, including 17 in the first.
Debuting their new yellow home jerseys,
the Warriors' opening-night lineup featured seven freshmen
and no seniors. They are now 5-1-2 in their last eight home
openers.
Merrimack (1-0) kicks off conference play against Boston
University Friday night at Agganis Arena at 7 p.m. and then heads
to Army on Saturday. The Warriors play the next five games on the
road and do not return home until October 31 when they host the
defending National Champion Boston College Eagles.
