Barton Scores Twice as Merrimack Loses to #6/8 North Dakota
Post-Game Audio
GRAND FORKS, ND – Junior captain Chris Barton
(Calgary, Alberta) scored twice, but the Merrimack hockey
team fell to #6/8 North Dakota 3-2 Saturday night in front of
11,603 fans at the Engelstad Arena.
Merrimack falls to 0-2 on the season while the Fighting Sioux are
2-0. The Warriors return home to host Holy Cross in the home opener
on Friday at 7 p.m. and Army on Saturday at 7 p.m. All general
admission tickets to the home opener are $5.
For the second straight night, the Fighting Sioux struck on their
first shot, as Brett Hextall beat Andrew Braithwaite
(Kingston, ON) on his short side at 4:11 of the first. But
it was the Warriors who controlled most of the play in the first
period, as they outshot North Dakota 7-5. Joe Cucci
(Melrose Park, IL) had the best chance of the first as
Barton fed him while on the power play, but his shot was stopped by
Brad Eidsness at point-blank range.
Merrimack's strong effort was rewarded as Barton netted
his second goal in as many nights, 32 seconds into the second,
getting a great centering feed from Jesse Todd (Camrose,
AB), and beating Eidsness far side to even the game at
one.
The Warriors kept attacking, drawing a five-minute penalty but
could not cash in. With 2:45 remaining in the period, a rebound off
a Barton shot came right to Brandon Brodhag (Brooklyn Park,
MN) who was playing in his first career game, but his shot
eluded Eidsness and ricocheted right off the post.
"I always respect my team's effort," said head coach Mark
Dennehy, "and we take pride in competing hard every night."
The Fighting Sioux regained the lead when Michael Cichy picked up
his first collegiate goal 7:15 into the second with Chay Genoway
and Carter Rowney getting the assists.
Unfortunately, not scoring on the major penalty was a turning
point as the Warriors took five consecutive minor penalties
afterwards, and on the fifth straight power play for UND, Jake
Marto finally beat Braithwaite, giving the hosts the important
two-goal lead with 11:07 remaining.
Led by Barton, the Warriors remained in the game, as the junior
captain got his own rebound and wristed it underneath
Eidsness' pads to cut the lead to one with 3:52 remaining.
Todd and J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, QC)
earned the assists on Barton's third of the weekend.
But Merrimack could not even the score even after Braithwaite came
up with a huge glove save on a Rowney breakaway seconds after
Barton's second goal. Moments later, John Jamieson
(Billerica, MA) was stopped as he chipped away at a
rebound off a Brandon Sadlowski (Red Deer, AB)
shot. With Braithwaite pulled, Todd found Barton in front of
Aidsness, but his shot was partially deflected and went right to
the Fighting Sioux goaltender.
After outshooting North Dakota 7-5 in the first, the Fighting
Sioux fired 28 of the next 33 shots and outshot the Warriors 35-18
for the game. The Warriors were 0-for-3 on the power play for the
second straight game, while the hosts were 1-for-7, with their man
advantage goal proving to be the game-winner.
"We have the luxury of great depth at goaltender," said Dennehy.
"You don't need to score on every power play, but you need to build
momentum."
Braithwaite was sharp in his first start of the season, stopping
32 shots.
