Men's Ice Hockey Posts Exhibition Victory over New Brunswick, 5-3, Saturday Night at Lawler
Links: Box Score // Highlights
Postgame Comments: Dennehy
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team defeated the University of New Brunswick, 5-3, in its lone exhibition matchup of the preseason on Saturday night at Lawler Rink. Sophomore Mathieu Foget (Orleans, Ontario) scored two goals to lead the offense while sophomore Drew Vogler (Florissant, Mo.) and junior Collin Delia (Rancho Cucamonga, Calif.) combined to post shutouts in the first and third periods, respectively.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5, New Brunswick 3
Records: Merrimack (0-0-0, 0-0-0 HEA) | New Brunswick (0-0-0)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
How It Happened
- Merrimack staked itself a 4-0 lead thanks to a four-goal first period, scoring three times in the first 10 minutes before adding a late tally with 25 seconds left in the period
- Freshman Tyler Drevitch (Middleborough, Mass.) scored 1:17 into the game after tipping in a centering feed from junior Alfred Larsson (Ljungby, Sweden).
- Later on, power play goals from sophomore Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) and senior Chris LeBlanc (Winthrop, Mass.) pumped the lead to 3-0 before sophomore Mathieu Foget (Orleans, Ontario) wrapped up the first-period onslaught with an even-strength tally at the 19:35 mark.
- After Vogler turned away all 10 shots he faced in the first period, classmate Craig Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) saw the first action of his Merrimack career after entering the game early in the second. He finished with 17 stops on 20 attempts over the remainder of the middle stanza.
- A bevvy of Merrimack penalties helped tilt the ice more in New Brunswick's favor in the second frame, as the Varsity Reds finished with 22 shots that period and scored on three of them to erase a four-goal deficit and make it a one-goal game (4-3) after 40 minutes.
- Delia took over the reigns in the third period and stopped all eight shots he saw; meanwhile, Foget tickled the twine again on a breakaway after he exited the penalty box just under the six-minute mark of the final stanza, and that stood as the final margin of victory.
Facts and Figures
- Penalties were the storyline of the game; Merrimack and New Brunswick combined for 182 penalty minutes, the most in a single game since the 184 combined penalty minutes between Merrimack and Maine in Game 2 of the Hockey East Tournament Quarterfinals in 2012.
- Foget represented the lone multi-goal performance on the night for Merrimack, while Gustafsson and junior Aaron Titcomb (Charlestown, Mass.) dished a side-high two assists each
- Gustafsson also finished 13-for-20 (65%) on the dot, representing the best individual faceoff effort on the team
- Goaltenders: W - Drew Vogler (10 saves) // L – Etienne Marcoux (34 saves)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (2-13) // New Brunswick (2-10)
- SOG (MC-UNB): 21-8 // 5-22 // 13-8 // 39-38
Up Next
Merrimack will officially open the regular season next Sunday (Oct. 9) with a matinee against Sacred Heart University at home. Puck drop at Lawler Rink is set for 4 p.m.
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