Merrimack Scores 5-0 Win over PC; Warriors Can Clinch Saturday at Home
Cucci's
Goal / Bigos'
Goal
PROVIDENCE, RI
- Ryan Flanigan (Rochester, NY) scored
two of Merrimack's five first-period goals as the Warriors closed
their magic number to clinch their first playoff spot since 2004 to
one and set a school record with 12 Hockey East wins in a 5-0
victory over Providence Friday night at Schneider Arena.
Merrimack (15-17-1, 12-13-1 HEA) will clinch a playoff spot with
a win or tie Saturday night over Providence at Lawler Arena, or
with a loss or tie by UMass Amherst or Vermont on Saturday. The
Warriors currently sit in sixth place in the Hockey East standings
and can clinch fifth with a win coupled with a BU loss at
Northeastern. Merrimack cannot gain home ice for the quarterfinals.
Tickets remain available online at merrimackathletics.com and at
the box office for Merrimack's 7 p.m. game Saturday with the
Friars, which will be highlighted by numerous fan giveaways,
including season tickets to next season as part of Fan Appreciation
Night.
"I'm just as happy with the way we finished," said head coach
Mark Dennehy. "We had guys out there trying to block shots in a 5-0
win. That shows you were committed to a 60-minute effort. We got
the looks we wanted to get, and we executed when we needed to."
Joe Cannata (Wakefield, MA) stopped 34 shots
for his second shutout of the season.
The Warriors took advantage of a Friar too many men penalty at
1:26, with senior J.C. Robitaille (Des Ruisseaux,
QC) netting his fourth of the year, deflecting a slapper
from Karl Stollery (Camrose, AB) at 2:23 of the
first.
Two goals from Flanigan and single goals from Joe Cucci
(Melrose Park, IL) and Kyle Bigos (Upland,
CA) 3:28 apart late in the period gave Merrimack the 5-0
lead at first intermission, marking the most goals scored by the
Warriors in the first period in their 21-year Hockey East history.
“We knew getting off to a quick start was a key against
them,” said Flanigan. “We always try to win the first
five minutes.”
With Merrimack back on the power play, Cucci deflected a slap
shot from Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) at
15:53 for his seventh of the season. Fifty-four seconds later,
Flanigan put home his first of the period, gathering a rebound off
a Fraser Allan (North Battleford, SK) shot in
front of Alex Beaudry.
Fifty-three seconds after Flanigan's tally, Francois
Ouimet (Lorraine, QC) found Bigos in the slot, and the
freshman one-timed it for his fourth of the year and second in
three games. Flanigan rounded out the first period scoring with his
first multi-goal game, slamming home another rebound in front of
Beaudry, this time off a Bigos shot, while ending the evening for
Beaudry.
Twelve different Warriors tallied points in the first, with
Bigos, Stollery and Flanigan tallying a pair each.
“We can only worry about our game,” said Bigos.
“Everyone realized what we had in our hands and we were
prepared to get the job done.”
The Warriors power play, which entered Friday's game ranked
third in the country, was 2-for-5 in the game, including
registering goals on their first two advantages. Merrimack also
killed off all five Friar power plays.
With the victory, Merrimack assured itself of not being swept by
a Hockey East team in a weekend series all season for the first
time in school history.
