#18 Merrimack Falls Late at #6 UNH 2-1 Saturday
Video Highlights / Dennehy Postgame Audio
DURHAM, NH – Matt DiGirolamo made 41 saves, as 18th-ranked Merrimack saw its five-game unbeaten streak come to an end, falling to sixth-ranked New Hampshire 2-1 Saturday night in front of 5,155 fans at the Whittemore Center.
Merrimack (5-3-4, 4-3-3 HEA) has a quick turnaround as it travels to Harvard for the second-ever matchup between the two teams Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in a non-conference battle. The Warriors then conclude the pre-Christmas schedule against Northeastern University in a home-and-home series next weekend with Saturday's game at Lawler Rink.
After two scoreless periods, the Warriors broke though on the power play as Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) gave Chris Barton (Calgary, AB) a perfect cross-crease feed, and the senior captain buried it for his fifth of the season at 4:12 of the third.
But the Wildcats answered right back as Damon Kipper evened the score with a wrister over the glove of Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) at 7:15 for his third of the year.
Paul Thompson then followed with the game-winning goal with 8:07 remaining in regulation, taking a feed from Mike Sislo for his seventh of the season.
The Warriors poured on the pressure in the waning minutes, but quality shots from Adam Ross (Red Deer, AB) and Elliott Sheen (Lethbridge, AB) were turned aside by DiGirolamo. Cannata was pulled for the extra attacker with 2:23 to play, but Jesse Todd (Camrose, AB), Joe Cucci (Melrose Park, IL) and Da Costa were each denied from point-blank range by the right pad of the junior netminder.
"After the game, one of my upperclassmen said, you have a one-goal lead with little over 15 minutes left and on the road, you've got to do a better job," said head coach Mark Dennehy. "I think that's, at the end of the day, what it is."
Merrimack outshot the Wildcats 27-18 through two periods, including 33-15 in the final two periods, and 42-27 for the game.
Da Costa led the way with five shots through 40 minutes, and a game-high seven for the game, to go with a wrister off the cross bar early in the second after dribbling around a UNH defender. All but two Warriors fired at least a shot, as Da Costa's line combined for 13 total shots.
Cannata, who finished with 25 stops, matched DiGirolamo save-for-save, as the junior made two breakaway stops on Phil DeSimone, one with his glove in the first with Merrimack short-handed, and one with the blocker in the second.
The Warriors finished 1-for-3 on the man-advantage, while killing each of UNH's four power play attempts.
UNH improved to a 7-2-4 overall, 5-1-2 in Hockey East with the victory.
