Women's Ice Hockey Falls at Boston U., 6-2
Links: Box Score
BOSTON – The Merrimack College women's ice hockey team dropped a 6-2 decision on the road against Boston University on Saturday afternoon at Walter Brown Arena.
The Basics
Score: Boston U. 6, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (4-23-1, 2-15-1 HEA) | Boston U. (16-9-2, 13-4-2 HEA)
Location: Walter Brown Arena | Boston, Mass.
How It Happened
Shooting for its first three-win month in program history, Merrimack made its second-ever trip to Walter Brown Arena to conclude its three-game season series against BU.
The hosts hopped out in front just over a minute into the game, as Alexis Crossley lit the lamp for the fourth time this season with helpers from Kayla Tutino and Rebecca Russo.
Seventeen minutes of scoreless action ensued despite a Merrimack power play midway through the frame, but the final 70 seconds of the period saw both sides trade salvos.
First, for the Warriors, rookie Annie Boeckers (Otsego, Minn.) found the back of the net for the first time in her career off a feed from sophomore Jillian Battista (Tonawanda, N.Y.) to level the ledger, but BU regained the lead 20 seconds later when Tuttino beat freshman Samantha Ridgewell (Outlook, Saskatchewan) for her seventh of the year, and that marker sent the Terriers into the locker room with a 2-1 lead after 20 minutes.
Eerily similar to how the first frame started, BU tickled the twine just 1:39 into the second stanza after Crossley scored again off feeds from Victoria Bach and Savannah Newton.
BU found itself on a power play moments later, and while Merrimack came away unscathed during the man advantage, Sammy Davis would score 10 seconds after the penalty expired at 4:39, extending the Terriers' lead to 4-1 less than five minutes into the second.
But the Warriors would capitalize on their own power play at the midpoint of the period, as freshman defenseman Paige Sorensen (Plymouth, Minn.) smashed home her sixth goal of the season from the point off a feed from classmate Dominique Kremer (West Fargo, N.D.), making it a two-goal game (4-2) after two periods.
That, however, was the closest the visitors would get, as BU's defense limited Merrimack to just six shots on goal in the third, while Erin O'Neil (14 saves) and Ashlyn Aiello (2 saves) combined to stop all of them.
The Terrier offense, meanwhile, added two more lightning-quick goals within a 24-second span, as Lefort (9:58) and Bach (10:22) wrapped up the scoring for the hosts.
Notes and Numbers
- Sorensen tallied her third power play goal of the season on Saturday, a mark that ranks second on the team, while pushing her season point total to 14
- Boeckers' goal was also her first career point which came in her 15th career appearance
- Kremer now has three assists in the last three games
- Battista produced her first point since the Warriors' last trip to BU on Nov. 21
- Goaltenders: L – Samantha Ridgewell (35 saves, 4-16-1) // W – O'Neill (14 saves, 10-4-2)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (1-4) | BU (0-1)
- SOG (MC-BU): 8-20 // 4-12 // 6-16 // 18-48
Up Next
The Warriors will travel up to Orono, Maine next weekend to play two games with the Black Bears on their home ice. The first game is set for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
--
For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.
