Men's Hockey Drops 5-3 Decision at #18 BU, Eliminated in Hockey East Quarterfinals
Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Reaction
BOSTON, MA – The Merrimack hockey team was defeated on Saturday night by the score of 5-3 at Agganis Arena in Game 2 of the Hockey East quarterfinals in front of 3,043 fans. The loss gives Boston University the 2-0 series win and they will move on to the semifinal round of the playoffs.
With the loss, the Warriors will not qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Merrimack finishes their 2012-13 season with an overall record of 15-17-6 and a Hockey East record of 13-11-3.
The game-winning goal for the Terriers was scored by Ben Rosen on a rebound backhand attempt from in front of the Merrimack net with 14:49 remaining in the final period. Rosen took a behind-the-back feed from Matt Lane and finished his fifth goal of the season.
The Warriors broke through with their first goal of the series with one minute to play in the opening period as Jordan Heywood (Regina, SK) found a streaking Shawn Bates (Ft. Saskatechewan, AB) up the middle on the breakaway and he beat the Terrier goaltender on the backhand shot.
The Warriors took a tripping call with 36 seconds remaining in the opening period which carried over to the second. The Terriers scored the tying goal just seconds after the Warriors' penalty expired as Matt Nieto took a nice feed from Danny O'Regan and buried the puck behind Sam Marotta (Bridgewater, Mass.) with 18:29 remaining in the second.
Merrimack wasted no time responding with their second power-play tally of the game when Mike Collins (Boston, Mass.) took a Connor Toomey (Billerica, Mass.) pass and beat Sean Maguire from just inside the right circle with a quick wrist shot. Heywood also picked up his second assist of the game on Collins' 17th goal of the season.
Under a minute after the Collins tally, the Warriors almost extended their lead to two as freshman Brian Christie (West Chester, PA) walked in all alone on a breakaway opportunity but his attempt was saved by Maguire. On the other end just minutes later, Marotta kept the lead at one for Merrimack when he made a diving glove save on the penalty kill on Wade Megan.
The Terriers tied the game 2-2 with a power-play goal with just 3:48 to play in the second as Hohmann followed up his own shot and beat Marotta under his blocker. John Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) gave the Warriors their third lead of the game just minutes later after a Boston University turnover. Gustafsson took the loose puck and beat Maguire over his glove for his third goal of the season.
Sam Kurker tied the game for the third time with 7.6 seconds to play in the second on a rebound opportunity. Megan took the original shot that layed in front of Marotta and Kurker pounced on the puck and slid it through the legs of the Merrimack goaltender.
The Warriors held the 31-25 advantage in shots on goal after two periods of play.
Rosen broke the 3-3 tie just over five minutes into the final period on a backhand attempt from in front of Marotta.
The Terriers had two good chances to extend their lead to two as Lane was robbed on a breakaway attempt and then he hit the post on a nifty move in front of Marotta.
Sahir Gill iced the game for the Terriers with a diving empty-net goal with just 4.4 seconds remaining in the contest to send Boston University on to the semifinal round of the Hockey East Tournament.
Marotta finished the game with 29 saves in the loss while Maguire stopped 39 Merrimack shots to secure the victory. The win for the Terriers gives them a season and playoff sweep of the Warriors, 5-0-0.
Merrimack finished the game going 2-for-3 on the power play with five shots on goal while the Terriers finished going 2-for-5 with nine shots on Marotta.
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