Hockey Edged by Maine 3-2
Boxscore
NORTH ANDOVER, MA – The Merrimack hockey team received
goals from Adam Ross (Red Deer, Alberta) and
Rob Ricci (Brampton, Ontario) but fell to the
University of Maine 3-2 Sunday afternoon at Lawler Arena.
The Black Bears notched two goals, both on the power play in the
first 2:59 to take an early 2-0 lead. Gustav Nyquist and Tanner
House each scored off rebounds on the man advantage with Chris Hahn
and Will O'Neill getting the assists on both first period
tallies.
The Warriors cut the lead in half at 11:59 of the second as Ricci
fired one past goaltender Scott Darling for his fifth of the
season. Fraser Allan (North Battleford, Sask.) and
Chris Barton (Calgary, Alberta) got the assists as
Ricci extended his goal-scoring streak to three games.
Merrimack controlled the play for stretches in the third,
outshooting the Black Bears 10-3 in the final frame, but it was
Brett Carriere who backhanded a shot through the legs of
Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) at 13:39 of the third
to extend the lead back to two.
With Cannata pulled for the extra attacker in the final minutes,
Ross fired a shot past Darling to cut the lead back to one.
Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) and Barton got the
assists on Ross' first collegiate goal in 47 games. But that
was as close as the Warriors would get as the Black Bears ran out
the clock on a possible comeback attempt.
Darling stopped 27 shots as Merrimack outshot the Black Bears
29-23.
Merrimack (4-8-3, 2-7-2 HEA) is off until after Christmas and will
take on Quinnipiac on December 29th at 4 p.m. at the UConn Hockey
Classic in Storrs, Connecticut. Maine (8-5-1, 5-4-1 HEA) hosts
Union next weekend for a pair of games beginning Friday night at
Alfond Arena.
