New Hampshire Snaps Men's Ice Hockey's Unbeaten Streak; Warriors Fall, 6-2, Saturday Night in Durham

New Hampshire Snaps Men's Ice Hockey's Unbeaten Streak; Warriors Fall, 6-2, Saturday Night in Durham

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DURHAM, N.H. – Four goals in a five-minute span gave the University of New Hampshire a lead it would never relinquish, as the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team saw its four-game unbeaten streak come to an end with a 6-2 setback against the Wildcats on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center.

The Basics
 Score: New Hampshire 6, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (3-4-1, 0-1-1 HEA) | New Hampshire (3-3-0, 2-0-0 HEA)
Location: Whittemore Center | Durham, N.H.
Attendance: TBA
Game Duration: 2:12

How It Happened

  • UNH lit the lamp four times in the first period – all of which came in the span of 5:13 – as Tyler Kelleher got it started with a shorthanded strike at the 4:31 mark.
  • Freshman Patrick Grasso then lit the lamp for a natural hat trick in just under a four-minute span, netting his first off an odd-man rush before tipping in two power play goals to give the Wildcats a 4-0 advantage heading into the first intermission.
  • The Warriors killed off two late penalties that carried over into the start of the second frame, but just as they expired UNH appeared to take a 5-0 lead, but the net was off its moorings when the would-be goal was scored.
  • Sophomore Craig Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) made his first career appearance in net early in the second and wound up turning away all eight shots he saw in the period, neither side found the back of the net in the second to keep it a four-goal deficit.
  • Grasso netted his fourth of the game off a back-door feed on the power play at the 7:56 mark of the third to push the lead to 5-0, but Merrimack scored twice in under a minute with goals coming from junior Marc Biega (Pointe-Claire, Quebec) and freshman Sami Tavernier (Morzine, France), with the latter getting the first of his career, to make it a 5-2 affair with just over eight minutes left.
  • Merrimack kept Pantano on the bench to create 6-on-4 advantage when it was awarded a late power play with 3:36 left in regulation, but could not convert, and the Wildcats would add a late empty-netter to seal it.

Notes & Notables

  • Grasso became the first opposing player to score a natural hat trick since Vermont's Mario Puskarich did so in a 4-1 Vermont win on Feb. 21, 2014, at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
  • The four goals surrendered by Merrimack matched a season-high; the last teams to do so were Colgate and St. Lawrence on back-to-back nights two weekends ago (Oct. 14-15).

Goal Descriptions

  • UNH #1 (Keller) | P1 4:31 (SH) – While on the power play, Merrimack tries to play the puck around the left wing boards but a giveaway leads to a shorthanded breakaway and Tyler Kelleher beats Drew Vogler five-hole.
  • UNH #2 (Grasso/van Riemsdyk/Maller) | P1 5:48 – Odd-man rush, pass from the left wing from Brendan van Riemsdyk to the slot, Patrick Grosso wrist shot beats Drew Vogler over the left shoulder.
  • UNH #3 (Grasso/Kelleher/Cleland) | P1 7:06 (PP) – Puck played from center point to the left wing circle, shot from Tyler Kelleher tipped in front by Patrick Grasso, who picks up the rebound and puts it over Drew Vogler's blocker.
  • UNH #4 (Grasso/Kelleher/McNicholas) | P1 9:44 (PP) – Michael McNicholas passes from the right circle to the left goal line extended, where Tyler Kelleher sends a centering feed just in front of the crease that Tyler Grasso tips out of mid-air and past Drew Vogler.
  • UNH #5 (Grasso/McNicholas/Cleland) | P3 7:56 (PP) – Tyler Grasso buries a centering feed at the back post.
  • MC #1 (Biega/Irvine/Gustafsson) | P3 10:45 – Faceoff from the right wing circle pushed ahead to Tyler Irvine, who curls the puck from behind the net up to the left point, where Marc Biega scores off a slapper.
  • MC #2 (Tavernier/Kolquist/Coomes) | P3 11:43 – Jared Kolquist throws a centering feed from inside the left wing circle to the back post where Sami Tavernier tips it home.
  • UNH #6 (Salvaggio) | P3 19:01 (EN) – Jason Salvaggio steals the puck in the neutral zone, skates it in and scores on the empty net.

MERRIMACK LINEUP
Hennig | Gustafsson | Irvine
Seney | A. Larsson | Tibbet
Petti | Babcock | Foget
Coomes | Kramer| Tavernier

Biega | Carle
Kolquist | Kovacevic
Spaxman| Lashyn

Vogler
Pantano

Game Leaders (MC // UNH)

  • Points: Six tied (1) // Patrick Grasso/Patrick Grasso (4)
  • Goals: Sami Tavernier/Marc Biega (1) // Patrick Grasso (4)
  • Assists: Four tied (1) // Three tied (2)
  • Shots: Jared Kolquist (5) // Patrick Grasso (4)
  • Saves: Craig Pantano (12-for-13) // Daniel Tirone (25-for-27)

Facts and Figures (MC // UNH)

  • Power Plays: 0-5 // 3-8
  • Penalties: 9 Penalties – 18 Minutes // 6 Penalties – 12 Minutes
  • SOG: 9-8 // 7-8 // 11-6 // 27-22

Up Next
 Merrimack will concludes a stretch of three games in five days when it remains continues league play with a Saturday night trek to Dover to battle the University of New Hampshire. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.

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