Men's Ice Hockey Sweeps Holy Cross with 2-1 Victory in Home Opener Saturday Night
Men's Ice Hockey Sweeps Holy Cross with 2-1 Victory in Home Opener Saturday Night
Links: Box Score | Dennehy Postgame | Tirronen Postgame
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team is off to a 2-0 start to the season after sweeping its weekend series with the College of the Holy Cross, as the Warriors topped the Crusaders with a 2-1 victory in their home opener on Saturday night at Lawler Rink.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 2, Holy Cross 1
Records: Merrimack (2-0) | Holy Cross (0-2)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
A night after racing out to a 2-0 lead only to watch the Crusaders claw bac to tie the match in the final stanza, Merrimack made its third-period lead hold from the midpoint of the game all the way until the final horn, as a strong effort from the hosts kept Holy Cross off the board over the final two periods.
Merrimack wasted little time in getting on the board, as rookie Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia) netted his first career marker at 3:30 to put the hosts on top. The rookie winger made his first goal a gritty one, digging out a shot taken by Jonathan Lashyn (Camrose, Alberta) and shuffling it through traffic and in to light the lamp. Senior Justin Mansfield (Arlington, Mass.) also assisted on the play.
Later on in the first, Holy Cross drew even, as Castan Sommer tipped in a slap shot from Jake Bolton to make it a 1-1 contest at the 11:22 mark of the first.
Both sides entered the intermission even at a goal apiece and that stayed true until the midpoint of the second stanza. After a high sticking call to Holy Cross at 6:29, sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) took a feed up the left half wall from senior Quinn Gould (Fort McMurray, Alberta) and sent it across the slot where a Merrimack skater was looming. That puck never got through, but fortunately for the Warriors, it deflected in off a Holy Cross stick and into the twine at the 8:17 mark, putting the hosts back on top. Freshman Marc Biega (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) earned his first career helper on the play, as well.
In the third, Merrimack played perhaps its most complete period of the night, outshooting the Crusaders by three and generating plenty of strong looks on a pair of power plays.
Still, the game came down to the final moments with Merrimack clinging to its one-goal lead. The Crusaders nearly buried the equalizer on a wraparound attempt that senior Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) sprawled to make a glorious save that was upheld by video review.
But with mostly upperclassmen cycling through the last shifts of the game, the Warriors kept Holy Cross pinned back deep over the last two minutes, as the visitors weren't even able to pull goaltender Matt Ginn thanks to their constant pressure, as the hosts were able to run out the clock all the way to the final horn to seal the win.
Inside The Numbers
- Tirronen finished the night with 26 saves, as while Ginn turned in another 30-save performance (32) for the Crusaders
- Merrimack finished 1-for-4 on the man advantage while finishing the weekend a perfect 7-for-7 on the penalty kill after the Crusaders were held in check over their three power plays
- Merrimack held a final 34-27 edge in shots on goal, with freshman Brett Seney (London, Ontario) leading the way with four attempts
- The hosts won 38-of-68 (.559%) of the faceoffs, with juniors Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.), and Vinny Scotti (Vineland, N.J.) and Gustaffson all finishing above .500 on the dots
Up Next
Merrimack returns to action a week from tonight for its annual Homecoming Weekend contest against the University of Connecticut on Oct. 18. The Warriors and Huskies, who will be playing in their first-ever Hockey East game as the newest member of the conference, will drop the puck at 7 p.m. at Lawler Rink.
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