Men's Ice Hockey Bounces Back with 5-1 Victory over Mercyhurst at Lawler Friday Night
Links: Box Score // Highlights
Postgame Comments: Dennehy // Gustafsson/Seney
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team scored three power play goals while 10 different players recorded at least a point to highlight a 5-1 bounce-back victory over Mercyhurst on Friday nigh at Lawler Rink.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5, Mercyhurst 1
Records: Merrimack (4-4-1, 0-1-1 HEA) | Mercyhurst (2-3-0, 2-1-0 AHA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 2007
Game Duration: 2:14
How It Happened
- Two early penalties against Merychurst put Merrimack in prime position, as the Warriors cashed in a 5-on-3 power play after freshman Johnathan Kovacevic (Grimsby, Ontario) scored his first in the Navy and Gold just 1:50 into the game to give the hosts a 1-0 edge.
- A bit later in the period, Merrimack doubled its lead with a pretty scoring sequence off the rush, as junior Brett Seney (London, Ontario) netted his second of the year at 12:36 to give the Warriors a 2-0 advantage that they carried into the intermission.
- Merrimack pushed the lead to three with its second power play strike of the night at 4:26 of the second frame, as senior Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) buried his team-leading fifth of the year off a rebound.
- Mercyhurst took advantage of three subsequent Merrimack penalties and Zach Todd eventually scored while skating with a 5-on-3 advantage to break up the clean sheet at 6:27 of the second; that, however, was answered by junior Mathieu Tibbet's (Dover, Del.) first tally of the year with just under 90 seconds to play in the period to stake the hosts a 4-1 edge entering the final stanza.
- The Warriors never let Mercyhurst get closer with a dominant showing in the third period, outshooting the visitors by a 17-5 margin. Sophomore Michael Babcock (Northville, Mich.) added an insurance strike by burying a rebound with the home side on the power play at the 8:54 mark to account for the final margin of victory.
Notes & Notables
- Carle tied his previous career-high with three points on Friday, doing so for the first time since tallying three points against Arizona State on Jan. 31, 2016.
- Merrimack scored three power play goals for the first time since going 3-for-8 in a 4-2 victory against Northeastern at home on Nov. 21, 2014.
Goal Descriptions
- MC #1 (Kovacevic/Foget/Carle) | P1 1:50 (PP/5x3) – Alex Carle fires a shot from the top of the left circle that caroms off the post and through the crease; Mathieu Foget chops the puck behind the net to a Mercyhurst skater, who tries to clear but the puck is intercepted by Johnathan Kovacevic, who scores glove side on a slap shot from above the far circle.
- MC #2 (Seney/Tibbet/Lashyn) | P1 12:36 – Jonathan Lashyn plays an outlet pass from the defensive zone to Brett Seney, who carries the puck through the neutral zone and over the blue line before dishing a backhand pass to Mathieu Tibbet in the far circle. Tibbet returns the feed to Seney in the slot, who goes forehand over the blocker.
- MC #3 (Gustafsson/Carle/Seney) | P2 4:26 (PP) – Brett Seney picks up a loose puck In the corner and plays it up the boards to the right point for a one-timer from Alex Carle. Hampus Gustafsson picks up the rebound in the slot and stuffs it past two defenders near the far post.
- MU #1 (Todd/Lancaster/Barach) | P2 6:27 (PP/5x3) – Zach Todd scores off a one-timer from the top of the left wing circle.
- MC #4 (Tibbet/Carle) | P2 18:37 – A Mercyhurst shot that was saved kicks out to the left wing circle to Alex Carle, who skates up to the blue line before threading a pass through center to Mathieu Tibbet, who gets a jump behind the two defensemen and scores over the blocker.
- MC #5 (Babcock/Kolquist/Petti) | P3 8:54 (PP) – Derek Petti curls up from the right wing circle and centers for Jared Kolquist straightaway, who rips a slap shot that gets caught up in traffic before Michael Babcock pushes his own rebound into the net around an outstretched left pad.
MERRIMACK LINEUP
Hennig | Gustafsson | Irvine
Seney | A. Larsson | Tibbet
Petti | Babcock | Drevitch
Coomes | Foget| Tavernier
Biega | Carle
Kolquist | Kovacevic
Spaxman| Lashyn
Vogler
Pantano
Game Leaders (MC // MU)
Facts and Figures (MC // MU)
- Power Plays: 3-9 // 1-10
- Penalties: 10 Penalties – 20 Minutes // 11 Penalties – 22 Minutes
- Faceoffs: 41 // 33
- SOG: 11-12 // 13-13 // 17-5 // 41-30
Up Next
Merrimack will conclude its two-game weekend when it resumes Hockey East play with a trip to No. 15/14 Providence College tomorrow night. Puck drop from Schneider Arena is set for 7 p.m.
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