Men's Ice Hockey's Rally Falls Short; Warriors Fall to Mercyhurst, 3-2, to Split Weekend Series
Links: Box Score
ERIE, Pa. – After falling behind by three goals for the first time this season, the Merrimack College men's ice hockey nearly rallied all the way back with an extra-attacker goal and just missed on the equalizer with seconds to play, but Mercyhurst withheld the late charge to hand the Warriors their first loss of the year, 3-2, on Saturday night at the Mercyhurst Ice Center.
The Basics
Score: Mercyhurst 3, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (4-0-1) | Mercyhurst (2-2-0)
Location: Mercyhurst Ice Center | Erie, Pa.
What They Said
Head Coach Mark Dennehy: "The first period might've been the best period of hockey we played all year; the only problem with it was it was a little too easy. We could've played harder but we possessed the puck made great plays, supported each other and unfortunately we thought that's how it was going to be all game. They came out in the second and we fell asleep, went away from doing what we need to do and they capitalized. It's a lesson that we need to learn, committing to 60-plus minutes. We put a little push at the end but it wasn't enough. We need to play a lot harder, didn't play nearly as hard as we need to. In the third it was better, but Hockey East is going to be a lot tougher than that and we had too many guys taking the path of least resistance. It's a lesson learned, and we still gave ourselves a chance to win, it just wasn't enough tonight."
How It Happened
Down by two heading into the third, Merrimack controlled the final stanza from start to finish, outshooting the hosts by a 10-2 margin in the frame but still found themselves down by two goals (3-1) despite two power plays.
As the contest entered its final minutes, Merrimack opted for the extra skater with a late power play upcoming and 2:20 to go; that gamble paid off, as rookie Brett Seney (London, Ontario) tipped in a centering feed from sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) to get the visitors to within a goal with 24 seconds left.
Off the ensuing draw, Merrimack again pulled its netminder for the sixth skater and gained the Mercyhurst zone; Gustafsson had the best look of the closing sequence, just missing on a screen shot that avoided the top-right corner. That was the closest the visitors would get to within before the final horn sounded.
Back in the first, Merrimack controlled the flow of the contest through the opening 10 minutes until an elbowing call at 9:52. The PK unit turned away that chance with relative ease but went right back to work on a five-minute elbowing major that followed at 12:35. The Warriors didn't relent, turning away Mercyhurst through the first 90 seconds of the infraction before junior Ben (Bahe Stillwater, Minn.) forced the puck out at the blue line and used his speed to threaten with a mini-breakaway chance down the left wing before being hauled down.
Fortunately for Merrimack, that led to a double-minor at the 13:59 mark, effectively ending Mercyhurst's major power play and giving the visitors an abbreviated man advantage at the tail end of their own major penalty. Equipped with that 25-second opportunity, Merrimack had a few grade-A scoring chances but was unable to light the lamp and head into the locker room scoreless after 20 minutes.
One of the contest's key moments came during the first shift of the second period, as Merrimack though it scored the game's first goal on the tail end of a centering feed that appeared to result in a tap-in goal at the far end of the net. But the goal had come of its moorings; no goal was the call on the ice, and that was upheld by video review.
Pouncing on that momentum swing were the Lakers, who ripped off two quick markers at 2:13 and 2:58, the latter of which also came while a Merrimack skater was being whistled for a hook, and suddenly Merrimack found itself down by two goals and down a man.
That Mercyhurst power play eventually became a 5-on-3 for just over 40 seconds following another Merrimack infraction, but despite the extended man advantage for the home side, the Warriors turned both away and got back to even strength with 15 minutes to play in the second.
The hosts made it a 3-0 advantage on a tap-in goal by Kyle Just midway through the second; although initially ruled no goal after the puck appeared to be kicked in, a video review overturned that call, giving the Lakers a three-goal edge at 10:33.
Merrimack benefitted from three consecutive power plays in the latter half of the second, and even though it didn't capitalize on either of them, it slowly titled the flow back in its favor and finally, with 1:50 left in the frame, freshman Alfred Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) thread a shot through traffic and in to get the visitors on the board. Seniors Kyle Singleton (Beaverton, Ore.) and Clayton Jardine (Lacombe, Alberta) each assisted on the play.
The Warriors carried that momentum over toward the start of the third stanza and hardly allowed any Mercyhurst scoring chances over the final 20 minutes. But on the flip side was Mercyhurst netminder Jimmy Sarjeant, who turned in a 33-save performance a night after surrendering five goals.
That was enough for the Lakers, who held on down the stretch to split the weekend series.
Inside The Numbers
- Merrimack wound up with a 35-21 edge in shot attempts, including the 10-2 lead in the third period and 16-7 advantage in the first
- Six different players wound up with a point for Merrimack, including the goal scorers (Larsson, Seney) and Christie, Gustafsson, Jardine, Singleton and junior Vinny Scotti (Vineland, N.J.)
- Merrimack came up empty on its first six power plays of the night before capitalizing on its final one with the man advantage
- The Warriors won 39-of-72 draws (54.1%) led by Gustafsson, who won 11-of-18 on the night
- Freshman goaltender Collin Delia (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) finished with 18 saves in his collegiate debut
Up Next
Merrimack travels to Newark, New Jersey, next weekend to compete in the Liberty Hockey Invitational next Friday (Oct. 31) and Sunday (Nov. 2), starting with a bout against UConn next Friday at 4:30 p.m. Merrimack will face either Princeton or Yale on Sunday.
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