Hockey Edged by #10 UNH 1-0
DURHAM, NH – The Merrimack hockey team outshot
tenth-ranked New Hampshire 26-25 Saturday night, but Brian Foster
stopped all 26 Warrior shots giving the Wildcats the 1-0 win at the
Whittemore Center.
The Warriors started strong, registering the game's first
eight shots and the first two power-plays, but Foster answered each
challenge with a save to keep the game scoreless.
After surviving the early Warriors onslaught, Peter LeBlanc got
the Wildcats on the board at 13:24 as he knocked in a rebound after
Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) stopped the initial
two shots, but the Warriors failed to clear the puck out of the
crease. Greg Collins, who scored twice last night in UNH's
4-3 win at Lawler Arena, picked up an assist on LeBlanc's
tenth of the season.
After outshooting the Wildcats 10-6 in the first, Merrimack
continued its offensive pressure in the second as J.C.
Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux, Quebec) clanked a shot off the
near post just three minutes into the period. Seven minutes later,
Chris Barton (Calgary, Alberta) was wide open in
front of Foster, but the junior made a great save, getting a piece
of Barton's wrister with his glove.
The Warriors continued their pressure in the third, but shots from
Pat Kimball (Framingham, MA) and John
Jamieson (Billerica, MA) on a three-on-one were turned
aside byFoster. Cannata matched Foster in goal, as the freshman
stopped a breakaway chance from LeBlanc on the next shift. Cannata
then kept the deficit at one with a pair of stops on Phil DeSimone
with the Wildcats on the man advantage.
Merrimack pulled Cannata with 1:25 to play, but they failed to get
any sustained offensive possession and could not muster the tying
goal.
Foster stopped 26 shots for his third shutout of the season, while
Cannata, making his eighth straight start, posted 24 saves in the
loss.
The shutout loss was the first time Merrimack was blanked in a
Hockey East game this season, and the second time overall. Niagara
defeated the Warriors 1-0 earlier this season.
Merrimack (8-20-4, 4-18-3 HEA) closes out its home schedule
against UMass Amherst Friday night at 7 p.m. The Warriors will
honor the class of 2009 prior to the game.
