Maine Edges Men's Ice Hockey, 2-1, in Weekend Series Opener Friday Night
SCOTTI SCORES LONE MERRIMACK TALLY IN HARD-FOUGHT FRIDAY NIGHT SETBACK
Links: Box Score
ORONO, Maine – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team rallied back from a slow start and went toe-to-toe against rival Maine in a hard-fought battle from start to finish, but the Black Bears made a second-period tally stand the rest of the way, as the Warriors fell, 2-1, in their weekend series opener on Friday night at Alfond Arena.
The Basics
Score: Maine 2, Merrimack 1
Records: Merrimack (7-17-3, 2-11-2 HEA) | Maine (14-10-3, 8-5-2 HEA)
Location: Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
How It Happened
In a game defined more by its grittiness in all three zones than its offensive fireworks, Merrimack and Maine carried a 1-1 draw into the second frame before Ryan Lomberg tallied the game-winner midway through the period.
From there on out, Black Bear netminder Martin Oullette turned away a ferocious Warrior rally through most of the second period and was perfect in the third en route to backstopping the hosts to a one-goal victory thanks to a 23-save performance. For Merrimack, junior Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) was also strong between the pipes, finishing with 28 stops for the Navy and Gold.
But it was Lomberg's heroics that wound up being the difference, as sophomore Vinny Scotti (Vineland, N.J.) would represent Merrimack's lone goal-scorer, as his fourth marker of the season late in the first period was the only time a Warrior would find the twine on Friday night.
Both sides were awarded four power-play opportunities; Merrimack made the most of its first chance of the game which quickly led to Scotti's goal but came up empty on its remaining three. The Black Bears, meanwhile, were held in check on all four of their extra-man opportunities.
Each side traded goals in the opening period, highlighted by sophomore Scotti tipping in a point shot from junior Justin Mansfield (Arlington, Mass.) on the power play to get the Warriors on the board at 14:52. The marker came just more than four minutes after Maine opened up the scoring at 10:18 thanks to Lomberg, who picked up a rebounded shot from Devin Shore and tucked it past Tirronen to give the Black Bears a short-lived lead.
The middle stanza was a tale of two halves, as Merrimack outshot the hosts by an 11-3 margin at one point to erase a 10-2 shots-on-goal deficit before Maine settled down and finished the period by putting 11 of the final 17 shot attempts on net. But the biggest stat that mattered came in the form of Lomberg, who put the Black Bears back on top by depositing another rebound at 11:26 of the period to make it 2-1 in favor of the home side.
The third period would see very little in form of scoring chances until the final five minutes, as both sides' netminders came up with huge stops to keep it a one-goal contest. Merrimack skated with an extra attacker through the majority of the final 90 seconds but could not get the tying tally on the board.
A Closer Look
- Maine held a 30-24 advantage in shot attempts for the evening thanks to an 11-6 edge in the first and 7-5 advantage in the third; Merrimack held a slim 13-12 lead in the second
- Freshman Chris LeBlanc (Winthrop, Mass.) also assisted on Scotti's marker, registering his sixth point in as many games in the process
- Sophomore Brian Christie (West Chester, Pa.) led all Warriors with four shot attempts, tying Lomberg for the game's lead
Up Next
Both sides return to the ice tomorrow (Feb. 15) evening to conclude the weekend series right back at Alfond Arena. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
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