UNH Skates by Men's Ice Hockey, 4-1, in Weekend Opener Friday in Durham
Links: Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Comments
DURHAM, N.H. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team was held to fewer than 20 shots on net for the third straight game, as the Warriors dropped a 4-1 decision to New Hampshire on Friday night at the Whittemore Center.
The Basics
Score: New Hampshire 4, Merrimack 1
Records: Merrimack (14-15-4, 5-13-3 HEA) | New Hampshire (14-17-2, 9-11-1 HEA)
Location: Whittemore Center | Durham, N.H.
Hockey East Tournament Update
All teams qualify; top-four receive first-round bye; seeds 5-8 host 9-12 in opening round series
1.Boston U. 13-5-3 (29 pts)
2. Boston College 12-6-3 (27 pts)
3. Providence 12-8-1 (25 pts) Won season series vs. UML
4. UMass Lowell 11-7-3 (25 pts) Won season series vs. UND
5. Northeastern 11-8-2 (24 pts)
6. Notre Dame 9-7-5 (23 pts)
7. Vermont 10-9-2 (22 pts)
8. New Hampshire 9-11-1 (19 pts)
9. Connecticut 7-11-4 (18 pts) Won season series vs. Maine (1-0-1)
10. Maine 8-11-2 (18 pts)
11. Merrimack 5-13-3 (13 pts)
12. Massachusetts 5-16-1 (11 pts)
Merrimack is locked into the No. 11 seed and will play at the No. 6 seed in a first-round best-of-three series on the road next week.
How It Happened
Seeking its first win since the end of January, Merrimack was once again offensively stymied, stringing together only 17 shots on net all night.
Freshman forward Mathieu Tibbet (Dover, Del.) provided the lone tally for the visitors to tie the game early in the second, but that would be the one and only strike for Merrimack, which remained winless in 10 conference road games (0-9-1) this season.
An early power play appeared to give the Warriors some early momentum, but it was quickly nullified after Merrimack committed a penalty of its own, handing the Wildcats the first of three straight power-play chances in the first. That third one came back to haunt them; after nearly clearing the puck out of the defensive zone, Matias Cleland kept the play alive for the Wildcats and found Andrew Poturalski, who fired home a slapper from the slot to make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts at 10:44.
Early in the second, Tibbet leveled the affair on his fifth marker of the year and first since Jan. 23 against Massachusetts. The rookie buried a feed at the back door from senior Dan Kolomatis (Basking Ridge, N.J.), while classmate Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia) also factored into the scoring sequence.
But the Wildcats regained the lead eight minutes later when Matt Willows, seconds after a Merrimack penalty expired, tipped in a slapper from Cameron Marks, making it a 2-1 affair. About two minutes after that UNH lit the lamp again, as Jay Camper buried a rebound to up the lead to 3-1 late in the middle frame, one they would carry into the break.
Merrimack was unable to generate much in the third period, as the team was held to only two shots on net in the first 15 minutes of the frame before the Wildcats iced it with a late empty-netter.
Inside The Numbers
- Merrimack was outshot in every period (11-4, 13-9, 7-4) and overall, 31-17
- Senior Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland) saw his record dip to 10-11-3 on the year despite a 27-save performance
- Four different Wildcats found the back of the net Friday and nine different UNH skaters recorded a point
- UNH finished 1-for-5 on the man advantage, while Merrimack went 0-for-2
Notes and Notables
Merrimack has now been held to fewer than 20 shots in three consecutive games … The last time that happened in a three-game stretch was Jan. 12-20, 2007, when they put up 17, 19 and 18 shots, respectively, in consecutive games against Boston College (1x) and Boston University (2x).
Up Next
Merrimack and New Hampshire conclude the weekend series – and the regular season – back at the Whittemore Center tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.
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