Men's Ice Hockey Falls to #3, Boston U., 5-0; Warriors Swept in HEA Quarterfinals
Links: Highlights | Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Comments
BOSTON – After giving up four goals in the second period last night, the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team surrendered three more in the middle stanza on Saturday, as third-ranked Boston University swept the Hockey East Quarterfinal series between the two squads after handing the Warriors a 5-0 defeat in Game 2 at Agganis Arena.
The Basics
Score: #3 Boston U. 5, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (16-18-4) | #3 Boston U. (23-7-5)
Location: Agganis Arena | Boston, Mass.
How It Happened
Needing a win to extend its season and force a decisive Game 3 back at Agganis Arena on Sunday, Merrimack fought valiantly in the first period after surviving a pair of early power-play chances and had chances to take a lead but went into the first intermission with nothing on the board for either side.
The second period, however, saw BU light the lamp three times to stake itself a lead that it wouldn't relinquish; things opened up a bit in the third for the Warriors, who threw 16 shots on net after totaling 11 in the first two periods combined, but BU goaltender Matt O'Connor would not crack, keeping all 27 shots he faced out to secure the shutout before back-to-back empty-net goals from the Terriers sealed Merrimack's fate.
Senior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen (Espoo, Finland), the backbone of one of the top defenses in the conference throughout the year, had another valiant effort in his 68th career appearance, finishing with 50 saves – his third 50-save performance of the year – in the 56:30 he spent in net.
A strong start by the hosts was bolstered by back-to-back power-play opportunities early in the first, but Merrimack's penalty kill survived nearly a minute of a BU 5-on-3 advantage and then fended off the subsequent penalty to turn the momentum in its favor. The Warriors had a few noteworthy chances in tight on O'Connor but just missed, as the first period ended in a scoreless tie.
An early penalty against the Terriers gave the Warriors their third power play of the afternoon after coming up empty on back-to-back man advantages toward the end of the first. But near the tail end of that man advantage, BU stole the puck at the blue line, leading to a 2-on-1 rush with Jack Eichel and Cason Hohmann; the former faked and fed the latter for the shorthanded goal to give the Terriers the opening strike at 4:11 of the second.
Just under two minutes later, Merrimack was issued a penalty on a high-sticking call. BU's top-line of Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Danny O'Regan went to work, cycling on the left side of the zone before Rodrigues fired a shot from the blue line that found the back of the net off a deflection by Ahti Oksanen to double the Terriers' lead at the 5:42 mark of the period.
BU would get one last tally late in the frame; Brandon Fortunato skated behind the Merrimack net and fed O'Regan for a one-timer that just snuck past Tirronen to increase the lead to 3-0.
Merrimack strung together 16 shots in net in the final period, but O'Connor stopped them all. The Warriors had two late power-play opportunities and opted for the extra attacker hoping to jumpstart the offense, but Matt Grzelcyk scored on the empty net from his own zone at 15:39 before Hohmann netted his second off a steal at 19:35 to round out the night and the series.
Inside The Numbers
- BU finished with a 55-27 lead in shots on goal, outshooting Merrimack by a 42-11 margin through the first 40 minutes before the Warriors held a 16-13 lead in attempts in the third
- Eichel finished with three assists to lead all players, while Hohmann (2), Oksanen, O'Regan and Grzelcyk tallied the goals for the hosts
- BU also out-attempted Merrimack by an 85-55 margin while both sides blocked 16 shots
- BU won 35-of-57 faceoffs (61.4%); sophomore Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) led Merrimack on the dot with 11 wins in 20 tries (55.0%)
Notes and Notables
Merrimack finished with an eight-win improvement from a year ago and will return all of its top-four leading scorers and nine of its top-10 point-producers … The game was the last in the careers of seniors Dan Kolomatis (Basking Ridge, N.J.), Justin Mansfield (Arlington, Mass.), Clayton Jardine (Lacombe, Alberta), Quinn Gould (Fort McMurray, Alberta), Kyle Singleton (Beaverton, Ore.), Joe Pantalone (Hammonton, N.J.) and Tirronen.
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