Mansfield's Late Strike Sends Men's Ice Hockey to 3-2 Opening Night Win at Holy Cross Friday
Mansfield's Late Strike Sends Men's Ice Hockey to 3-2 Opening Night Win at Holy Cross Friday
Links: Box Score
WORCESTER, Mass. – All even at two goals apiece late in regulation, senior defenseman Justin Mansfield (Arlington, Mass.) buried a quick wrister for the game-winner, as the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team avoided a late scare from the College of the Holy Cross in a 3-2 victory on the road in the 2014-15 season opener Friday night.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 3, Holy Cross 2
Records: Merrimack (1-0-0) | Holy Cross (0-1-0)
Location: Hart Center | Worcester, Mass.
How It Happened
Carrying a one-goal lead into the third period, Merrimack went to an early power play on a cross-check call but was held in check by the Crusaders. Then, moments after the man advantage expired, Logan Smith fed Matt Vidal down the right wing, and the latter beat senior Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) low blocker side while on the rush to draw even.
Holy Cross kept the momentum tilted in its favor after the Warriors were penalized two minutes after that goal, but the Merrimack penalty kill unit stayed perfect on the night to keep the score even at 2-2.
Following matching penalties to both sides at the 13:05 mark, Merrimack found itself set up in the Holy Cross zone while skating 4-on-4; on the ensuing draw won by the Warriors, sophomore Jonathan Lashyn (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) took the feed from the right point and fed sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden). He eventually thread it through traffic to Mansfield in the left circle, who buried a lightning-quick shot to put the Warriors on top for good.
Holy Cross would pull goaltender Matt Ginn, who became the Crusaders' Division I saves leader earlier in the game and finished with 32 saves, and skated with an extra man over the final two minutes. After two more matching penalties made it a 4-on-4 situation with just over a minute to go, Holy Cross whizzed a few dangerous chances through the Warrior defense and had another power play upcoming with 15 seconds left. But the puck never was iced by a Warrior skater, and despite a few heart-stopping moments that saw the puck nearly trickle through in the waning seconds, Merrimack held on as the final horn sounded with them on top.
Merrimack built itself a 2-0 lead through two periods before the Crusaders clawed to within one with a late goal in the second, setting up the heroics in the final period.
After a dominant first 10 minutes, Merrimack finally broke through at the 14:26 mark of the opening stanza. With the all-freshmen fourth line out on the ice, senior Dan Kolomatis (Basking Ridge, N.J.) thread a look to rookie winger Mathieu Tibbet (Dover, Del.), who promptly fed freshman Brett Seney (London, Ontario) in the slot. The centerman deked around a defender before sliding a gorgeous backhand shot five-hole through Ginn for the opening salvo.
It appeared both sides were heading to the break with the score still 1-0, but a turnover quickly changed that; with senior Quinn Gould (Fort McMurray, Alberta) homing down on a Holy Cross skater, that pressure forced an errant pass that found the stick of junior Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.), and the latter sniped a sharp-angle shot that ricocheted off Ginn's blocker and into the net to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.
Despite another strong effort on a pair of Merrimack power plays, the visitors were kept off the board through the first 15 minutes of the middle stanza. Then, at the 17:04 mark, Brett McKinnon ripped a slap shot from the blue line that ricocheted off a Merrimack skater and deflected past Tirronen to get the hosts on the board with 2:56 left in the period. That score would hold the rest of the way, as the Warriors took a 2-1 edge into the second intermission.
A chippy start to the third period ensued, as Holy Cross cut into its deficit on the shot chart and then the scoreboard, as Matt Vidal tallied the equalizer on the rush with a low blocker shot that snuck by Tirronen to tie things up at 6:24 in the period.
Merrimack had to repel another Holy Cross power play as the hosts continued their bid for the upset, but after withholding that wave of momentum, the Warriors got the lead back for good on Mansfield's late marker.
Inside The Numbers
- Seven different Warriors registered a point, highlighting an impressive balanced offensive display
- Christie led all Warriors with six shots on net and shared the team lead with Gustafsson in plus-minus at +2
- Tirronen finished with 23 saves to pick up the win over 59:58 of action
- Both sides finished 0-for-4 with the man advantage, with Merrimack generating seven shots on those four tries
- Overall, the Warriors outshot Holy Cross by a 35-25 margin, with 13-6 edge in the final frame
- Merrimack finished 30-of-71 (.423) on faceoffs with junior Vinny Scotti (Vineland, N.J.) winning a team-high 10 draws
Up Next
Merrimack and Holy Cross conclude the weekend series on Saturday (Oct. 11) night back in North Andover, as the Warriors welcome the Crusaders to Lawler Rink for the 2014-15 home opener. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
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