Brodhag's OT Winner Gives Merrimack the 2-1 Victory
NORTH ANDOVER, MA - Brandon Brodhag (Brooklyn Park,
MN) scored 1:03 into overtime, giving Merrimack the 2-1
sudden death victory over Providence College Saturday night in
front of 2,267 fans at Lawler Arena in the first home game for the
Warriors in seven weeks.
Merrimack (8-13-0, 5-9-0 HEA) returns to action Friday when it
hosts the University of New Hampshire at 7 p.m. Providence (9-13-1,
4-11-1 HEA) will visit Boston College next Friday at 7 p.m.
Brodhag, who scored two goals Friday at Lowell, beat Alex
Beaudry on a rebound shot off a Pat Bowen (Marshfield,
MA) slapper from the point. Beaudry stopped Bowen's shot
but left the rebound to his right, and Brodhag was there to put it
away, giving the Warriors the overtime victory, which snapped a
seven-game losing streak. Jesse Todd (Camrose, AB)
picked up the other assist on the goal as his hard work along the
boards proved critical in getting the puck to Bowen on the point.
“Coach got on me a lot in practice this week," Brodhag
said. "It was a great week of practice, and it paid off for me."
“Your team's play in the greasy area is what
differentiates you from other teams,” head coach Mark Dennehy
said. “Brandon is great there, because he's not afraid
to work hard against much bigger guys."
The victory improves Merrimack to 8-1 at Lawler Arena this
season.
As the game progressed, the Warriors began to pull away,
controlling possession for much of the third, but Beaudry kept his
team in the game, making 39 saves in all, including 11 on
Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France).
Da Costa and the Merrimack faithful thought he had given his
team the victory with 1:07 remaining in regulation after he
dribbled through two defenders, but Beaudry robbed him with a glove
save, extending his left arm as far as possible to keep the score
deadlocked at one.
Making his third start in four games, Andrew Braithwaite
(Kingston, ON) matched Beaudry save for save, making 34
stops, including 25 in the first two periods. Braithwaite improved
to 5-4 on the season with the victory.
The Warriors opened the scoring at 15:04 of the first as
sophomore Carter Madsen (Calgary, AB) scored on a
rebound off a shot from Adam Ross (Red Deer, AB)
for his second of the season. Brandon Sadlowski (St. Paul,
AB) notched the second assist on the goal, his sixth of
the year.
But the Friars rebounded in the second as Ian O'Connor tied the
game at 15:49. Eric Baier's shot from the point was stopped by
Braithwaite, but O'Connor was there for the rebound and fired it
past the senior goaltender for his sixth of the year.
The teams played a scoreless and penalty-free third period, with
Beaudry making 11 saves, sending the game into overtime.
Neither team scored on the power play, with Merrimack going
0-for-2 with seven shots and Providence failing on all four
attempts.
The Warriors are now 4-1-2 in the last seven meetings against
the Friars.
