Men's Ice Hockey Blows by Notre Dame, 4-1, to Split Weekend Series Saturday Night
Links: Box Score | Postgame Interviews: Dennehy / Tibbet
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – After racing out to a four-goal lead thanks to a two-goal effort from freshman Mathieu Tibbet (Dover, Del.), the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team knocked off Notre Dame, 4-1, for the team's first victory over the Fighting Irish since the late 1980s on Saturday night at Lawler Rink.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 4, Notre Dame 1
Records: Merrimack (7-3-1, 3-2-0 HEA) | Notre Dame (6-5-1, 2-1-1 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
Looking to improve to 2-0-1 on the season following losses, Merrimack used stalwart defense and timely scoring in the first and second period before building a four-goal lead with a pair of tallies less than three minutes apart in the third.
Skating with a 2-0 lead, Merrimack went to the power play early in the third and cycled around the right circle to set up the third marker of the game. Senior Dan Kolomatis (Basking Ridge, N.J.) banked a pass off the wall to junior Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.), who tapped it ahead to sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden). The center cherry picked a perfect shot into the top-right corner of the net to make it a 3-0 lead on his third of the year.
Just about three minutes later while skating 5-on-5, freshman Jared Kolquist (Hermantown, Minn.) wrapped the puck around the boards to classmate Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia), who left it for Tibbet in the neutral zone. The rookie used a burst of speed to move into the Notre Dame zone and unleashed a laser into the top-right corner of the cage, upping the Warriors' lead to 4-0.
Merrimack withstood two consecutive penalties to stay perfect on the penalty kill before a Warrior skater covered the puck in the crease, awarding the Fighting Irish a penalty shot. Connor Hurley tried to wait out senior Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland), but watched as the puck hopped off his stick and missed wide to keep Merrimack up by four.
Five minutes later, though, Notre Dame would snap the shutout on a tip-in goal in tight by Robbie Russo, but that would be the closest the Irish would get before the final horn sounded.
Late in the first period, the all-freshman line made sure those efforts wouldn't go to waste, as rookie Brett Seney (London, Ontario) accelerated down the left wing past the defense and threaded a centering pass to Tibbet, who tapped it into the net at 17:46 for the opening strike. Hennig also figured into the scoring play.
The Warriors didn't need much more than two minutes to extend their lead in the second; junior Vinny Scotti (Vineland, N.J.) tapped the puck on a give-and-go feed in the neutral zone to freshman Marc Biega (Pointe-Claire, Quebec), who found himself on a 2-on-1 rush with junior John Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden). The latter waited out Notre Dame netminder Cal Petersen and went to the backhand for his first marker of the year, pushing the Warriors' lead to two (2-0) at the 2:31 mark of the middle stanza.
That lead would quickly jump to four on the Warriors' two goals in the early goings of the third, as Merrimack picked up its first win against Notre Dame since a 6-0 home win back on Jan. 7, 1989.
Inside The Numbers
- In another physical battle, Merrimack was held in the 20-shot range for the second time this weekend (and only third time this year), but wound up with a 24-22 lead in shots on target
- The Warriors finished 1-for-5 on the man advantage while going 4-for-4 on the PK
- Tibbet led all skaters with a +3 rating, while Hampus Gustafsson's four shots led the side
- Merrimack finished 28-of-53 (52.8%) on the draw and was led again by Hampus Gustafsson's efforts; the sophomore won 9-of-13 faceoffs
- Tirronen lost the bid for his second shutout of the year late in the game but still finished with 21 stops; Petersen turned away 20 for the visitors
Up Next
Merrimack concludes its season-long four-game homestand and continues Hockey East action with a home-and-home series next weekend against Northeastern starting Friday night at Lawler Rink. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
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