Hockey Edged by #2 BC 3-2; Rematch Saturday at Lawler Rink
CHESTNUT HILL, MA – Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) made 39 saves, while Brandon Brodhag (Brooklyn Park, MN) and Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY) scored, but two goals from second-ranked Boston College early in the third period were the difference as the Eagles edged Merrimack 3-2 Friday night at Kelley Rink.
Merrimack (1-1-2, 0-1-1 HEA) wraps up its home-and-home series with the Eagles (4-1-0, 2-0-0 HEA) Saturday night at 7 p.m. at Lawler Arena. Limited tickets remain and are available online at merrimackathletics.com until early Saturday. The box office will open at 1:30 p.m. inside the Volpe Complex.
With Merrimack leading 2-1 early in the third, Paul Carey evened the score with a wrister from the faceoff circle to Cannata's right for his first of the year. Moments later with BC on its eighth straight power play, Pat Mullane gave the hosts the lead with the eventual game-winner as Cannata turned the puck over in the corner, and the sophomore was perched right in front of the crease for the easy tap-in at 5:09.
Merrimack finally went back on the power play with 12 minutes left in the third, but shots from Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) and Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) were turned aside by Muse. They had a two-man advantage for 47 seconds with 8:30 left but couldn't even the score, as a rocket from Da Costa went straight off the post.
Cannata was pulled late for the extra attacker, but Stollery was stopped by Muse, and the Eagles escaped with the 3-2 victory.
Brodhag beat John Muse at 8:27 for his first of the year on the power play to give the Warriors the early lead, tipping in a shot from Karl Stollery (Camrose, AB). The Warriors outshot BC 12-11 in the first and had numerous strong chances, highlighted by a shot off the cross bar from Carter Madsen (Okotoks, AB), and a blast from Kyle Bigos (Upland, CA) that Muse got a piece of with his glove on a sprawling save.
Behind great goaltending from Cannata and excellent blocks from the defense, led by Fraser Allan (North Battleford, SK) who played in his first game of the season, the Warriors successfully killed off an Eagle two-man advantage for 1:15 midway through the second period. BC went right back on the power play minutes later, and Cannata robbed Brian Dumoulin with a great glove save. But 36 seconds later, Merrimack was whistled for two infractions, sending the Eagles on a prolonged two-man advantage, and they finally cashed in as Cam Atkinson put home a rebound with 31.2 left in the period, sending the teams to the locker room tied at one through 40 minutes.
With the Warriors being whistled for seven straight penalties in the second, Cannata finished with an incredible 21 second period saves, giving him 32 through two periods.
With Merrimack finally back at full strength early in the third, Da Costa fed Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY), who had just exited the box, and the junior beat Muse blocker side on the breakaway 58 seconds into the third to regain the lead and silence the Eagle faithful.
The Warriors, who were the last team in the country to allow a power-play goal, saw their streak snapped at 21 straight kills to start the season before Atkinson ended the run late in the second.
BC finished 2-for-11 on the man-advantage, while the Warriors were 1-for-5.
Muse finished with 30 saves, as the Eagles outshot Merrimack 42-32, firing 26 of them on the power play.
Merrimack was looking to snap a 22-game winless streak in Chestnut Hill that dates back to 1997.
