Men's Ice Hockey Continues League Play against UMass (Fri.), New Hampshire (Sun.) this Weekend
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team continues Hockey East play this weekend with a Friday night home matchup against the University of Massachusetts before closing out its season series two days later when it visits the University of New Hampshire for a Sunday matinée showdown. Puck drop on Friday is set for 7 p.m., while Sunday's tilt is set to start at 4 p.m.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS & DISCOUNTS
Friday, Nov. 11 | Massachusetts (7 p.m.)
ARMED FORCES APPRECIATION & SCOUT NIGHT: Merrimack celebrates our Armed Forces Members and Boys/Girls Scouts!
SCOUT TICKET DISCOUNTS & GIVEAWAY: Scout tickets can be purchased for $10; scouts will also receive scout patches, while supplies last. FREE SCOUT PATCHES will also be distributed to all boy and girl scouts in attendance (while supplies last).
MILITARY DISCOUNT: Military tickets can be purchased for $10 (NOTE – Discount is valid for all active military personnel and retired veterans, as well as EMS personnel)
To take advantage of these prices, call the Merrimack Athletics Box Office at 978-837-5324!
IN-GAME PROMOTIONS: Prior to the game, join us as the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps, Constitution Division, based out of nearby Haverhill will present the Flags during the National Anthem. Merrimack will also honor all veterans during the game in conjunction with Wounded Warrior Project.
Inside the Series (Massachusetts)
- In a series that dates back to the 1969-70 campaign, UMass is one of just three teams in Hockey East that the Warriors boast an all-time .500/winning record against.
- In that span, Merrimack owns a 39-37-7 mark over the Minutemen, and since the 2009-10 season, the Warriors have gone 10-4-2 against UMass.
- Much of that success stems from the team's 22-10-6 record on home ice against UMass, as the Warriors have only gone 17-27-1 at the Mullins Center.
- Last year, Merrimack took 3-of-4 points with a win and a tie against the Minutemen to win the season series. The Warriors posted a 4-2 road win at the Mullins Center on Nov. 13 before settling for a 1-1 draw at home eight days later.
Inside the Series (New Hampshire)
- Meeting for the 105th time since 1960 this weekend, New Hampshire has fared well in the all-time series against Merrimack after winning the first game this year on Oct. 29 in Durham, 6-2.
- The Warriors own just a 22-72-10 mark against the Wildcats, and have won just nine times in 56 tries in Durham, including a 6-28-2 (.194) record at the Whittemore Center.
- At home, meanwhile, the Warriors have gone just 12-27-7, including a 2-2-1 mark last year.
- The Warriors hosted all five games against the Wildcats last season, including a best-of-three postseason series in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round.
- After Merrimack lost a tied against UNH in the regular season, the Warriors rallied from down a game to win back-to-back contests – including a 3-2 win in double overtime to keep the series alive – to win the series and advance to the league tournament's quarterfinal round.
- Merrimack will be searching for its first win in almost four years at the Whittemore Center, as the last win there came on Feb. 2, 2013 (4-1).
- To be fair, since the league schedule changed to its current format (two games against each team), Merrimack has only played one weekend series since the 2013-14 season; the Wildcats swept that two-game set on Feb. 27-28, 2015 (4-1, 3-0).
Last Time Out
- Merrimack surrendered a one-goal lead with just under four minutes to play and settled for a 2-2 tie at No. 15/14 Providence last Saturday night at Schneider Arena.
- Providence grabbed an early at the 8:23 mark of the first, but Merrimack would respond with the next two, as junior Brett Seney and senior Hampus Gustafsson scored five minutes apart to make it 2-1.
- That score stood all the way until the 15:57 mark of the third, which was when Anthony Florentino roofed a wrister to draw even at 2-2 and force overtime, where neither side would tickle to twine.
Scouting the Minutemen:
- Winless in its last four games after starting the season 2-1-0, UMass enters Friday's matchup sitting at 2-4-1 and will search for its first win since Oct. 21 against Army West Point (3-2).
- In their recent 0-3-1 skid, the Minutemen have played two ranked teams in Boston College (7-4 loss) and Quinnipiac (3-2) -- the latter game coming on the road -- but also have a home loss against New Hampshire (4-1) and a home draw with Connecticut (2-2) on their resume.
- Juniors Patrick Lee and Dominic Trento share the team lead with six points in seven games; the former has done so with a 2-4--6 scoring ledger, while the latter has hit that mark all by means of a helping hand, as Trento's six assists are most among the Minutemen.
- Lee, along with five other skaters, have lit the lamp twice apiece, while freshman defenseman Shane Bear is the only blueliner with more than two points (1-2--3) on the team.
- Freshman Ryan Wischow has started 5-of-7 games, including the first three and the most recent one, and owns a 2.63 goals-against average and a .907 save percentage. He is 2-1-1 in that span.
- The Minutemen rank 37th nationally in scoring offense (2.71) and 48th on defense (3.57); similarly, UMass ranks 43rd on the power play (.130) and tied for 25th on the penalty kill (.846).
- Greg Carvel headlined last offseason's coaching carousel after leaving St. Lawrence, his alma mater, for Amherst; in his previous four seasons, all with the Saints, he had gone 72-63-15 (.530).
Scouting the Wildcats:
- New Hampshire, which is coming off a season in which it went just 11-20-6 overall and finished in 10th place in the league standings, enters the weekend at 4-4-1. They were in the midst of a four-game unbeaten stretch (3-0-1) before falling short at No. 3 Boston College on Tuesday (5-3).
- Prior to Sunday's showdown, UNH will host Arizona State on Saturday State.
- Freshman Patrick Grasso -- who went off for four goals against Merrimack back on Oct. 29 -- and senior Tyler Kelleher lead the Wildcats with 13 points apiece.
- Grasso has done so to the tune of nine goals and four helpers, while Kelleher, along with five markers, shares the team lead with classmate and defenseman Mattias Cleland with eight helpers. Both rank tied for 14th nationally in scoring average (1.44), while Grasso ranks tied for fourth in goals per game (1.00) and leads the country with six power play tallies.
- Adding to Grasso's resume is his ranking third nationally in rookie scoring average (1.44).
- Junior Daniel Tirone has started 8-of-9 games for the Wildcats and has gone 4-3-1 with a 2.50 goals-against average and an .907 save percentage. In his last five games, though, he has gone 3-1-1 with a 1.78 GAA and .929 SV%.
- The Wildcats rank 24th nationally in scoring offense (3.22) and 33rd in defense (3.11); in terms of special teams, the Wildcats own the 16th-best power play unit (20.3) and 37th-ranked penalty-killing unit (82.2).
- Head coach Dick Umile, who is in his 27th season behind the bench at New Hampshire, is 575-337-104 all-time.
Up Next
Merrimack will make its second-ever trip to the state of Wisconsin to face the University of Wisconsin for a two-game weekend set next Friday and Saturday (Nov. 18-11). Puck drop at the Kohl Center each night is set for 8 p.m. Eastern.
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