Maine Wins in Overtime, 3-2, after Men's Ice Hockey Rallies with Two Extra-Attacker Goals
Links: Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Comments
ORONO, Maine – Down by two goals under two minutes to play, the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team rallied with a pair of extra-attacker strikes, but Maine spoiled the comeback after scoring in overtime to hand the Warriors a 3-2 setback in both teams' weekend series finale on Saturday night at Alfond Arena.
The Basics
Score: Maine 3, Merrimack 2 (F/OT)
Records: Merrimack (9-16-7, 3-10-7 HEA) | Maine (8-20-6, 5-13-2 HEA)
Location: Alfond Arena | Orono, Maine
Hockey East Playoff Picture
All teams qualify for postseason; seeds 1-4 earn first round bye; seeds 5-8 host 9-12 in best-of-three first round; winning teams advance, bracket is re-seeded, and seeds 1-4 host best-of-three quarterfinal series; winners advance to Championship Weekend at TD Garden
1. Boston College (14/33) H2H vs. PC, BU
2. Providence (14/31)
3. Notre Dame (14 league wins/30 pts)
T4. UMass Lowell (11/26) H2H vs. ND
T4. Boston U. (11/26) H2H vs. NU, UVM
6. Northeastern (8/20)
7. Vermont (6/15) H2H vs. NU, UConn, UNH
8. New Hampshire (4/14) H2H vs. MC, ME
9. Merrimack (3/13) H2H vs. UMass
10. Connecticut (4/12) H2H vs. ME
11. Maine (5/12) H2H vs. UVM
12. Massachusetts (2/8) H2H vs. UConn
Merrimack clinches a home-ice spot with:
- 2 wins vs. Vermont - 7th or 8th in standings depending on what UNH does
- A win and tie vs. Vermont and UNH takes at least three points vs. UConn - 8th in standings with 16 pts, winning head-to-head vs. Vermont
- A win and tie vs. Vermont and UConn sweeps UNH (Three-way tie with 16 pts: 7. MC, 8. UVM, 9. UConn. Merrimack and Vermont both have best combined records in three-team field, eliminating UConn. Merrimack then has head-to-head over Vermont, and would be 7th in the standings).
- A win and tie vs. Vermont and UNH only takes 1 point vs. UConn - 7th in standings with 16 pts, winning head-to-head vs. Vermont
- A win and tie vs. Vermont, UNH takes only 1 point vs. UConn, Maine sweeps NU (Three-way tie with 16 pts: 7. ME, 8. MC, 9. UVM. Maine has best combined record in that three-team field, and Merrimack wins head-to-head vs. Vermont)
- A win and tie vs. Vermont, UConn sweeps UNH, Maine sweeps NU (Four-way tie with 16 pts: 7. Maine, 8. MC, 9. UVM, 10. UConn. Maine and Merrimack have most points in that four-team tie, both split their season series, but Maine would have more conference wins and edge Merrimack; the Warriors would still have a home-ice-spot and finish 8th in the standings)
Scenarios in which Merrimack takes 3-of-4 points vs. UVM but does NOT get a home-ice spot:
- Merrimack loses three-way tiebreaker with UVM and UNH if all have 16 points and would be 9th in the standings (Merrimack would be last in that group based on number of conference wins since head-to-head tiebreaker is tied between the three teams)
- Merrimack is third in a four-way tiebreaker with UVM, UNH and Maine and would be 9th in the league standings (UNH and Maine have better combined records in the four-team group and would be 7th and 8th in the standings)
NOTE – Not confirmed by Hockey East
Wins = 2 pts, Ties = 1 pt
H2H = Team has won head-to-head tiebreaker vs. abbreviated team
Tiebreakers: Head-to-head; # of wins in conf. play; Record vs. first-place team, then second-place team, etc.; Coin flip
How It Happened
After playing in a contest that featured 10 combined goals for the second straight game last night, Merrimack returned to the ice at Alfond Arena looking for its first-ever weekend sweep in Orono in program history.
The first 40 minutes of Saturday's contest were a far cry from last night's matchup; where last night saw eight goals scored in the first two periods combined, Saturday's game saw relatively few scoring chances in the opening two frames.
Maine outshot Merrimack by a slim margin in the first period (11-8), and both teams had a power play chance, but neither found the back of the net. Maine had two man advantages in the second stanza compared to one for the Warriors, but each defense continued to hold up to send the game to the third still up for grabs.
After nearly 50 minutes of scoreless hockey, the hosts would break through at the 8:48 mark of the third, as Steven Swavely picked up a rebound that was kicked out in front of the crease near the edge of the far circle and backhanded it home to get the Black Bears on the board.
Then, after Merrimack killed off the first four Maine power plays of the night, the Black Bears broke through on their fifth, as Cam Brown buried a loose puck following a scramble in the slot to double the lead.
While the Black Bears thought they had the win locked up, Merrimack had other plans, rallying with a pair of extra-attacker goals within a span of just over a minute. First, junior Chris LeBlanc (Winthrop, Mass.) one-timed a behind-the-net feed from the bottom of the far circle to get the Warriors on the board at 18:17. Just over a minute, sophomore Jared Kolquist (Hermantown, Minn.) teed up a shot from the blue line that classmate Brett Seney (London, Ontario) redirected into the net to tie things up and send the game to overtime.
Skating in overtime for the eighth time this season, Merrimack was held to just one shot on net in the extra session while the Black Bears racked up four, including the eventual game-winner off the stick of Daniel Perez, who buried a rebound to give the Black Bears the series split.
How They Scored
ME #1 (Swavely/Merchant) | P3 8:48 – Backhander on a rebound in front of the crease near the edge of the far circle.
ME #2 (Brown/Tegeler/Riley) (PP) | P3 14:13 – Scramble for the puck in the slot; rebound smacked into the net.
MC #1 (LeBlanc/Petti/Seney) (EA) | P3 18:17 – One-timer from the bottom of the far circle off a behind-the-net feed.
MC #2 (Seney/Kolquist) (EA) | P3 19:38 – Tipped a shot from the point in front of the net.
ME #3 (Perez/Michel/Vesey) | OT 1:49 – Bang-bang play off a rebound.
Notes and Numbers
- Merrimack was playing in overtime for the eighth time this season after posting seven ties in the previous seven games that had gone beyond regulation
- Seney ran his point streak to six games, with 12 points (2g, 10a) in that span; he was tied for the national lead in scoring over the last five games coming into the night
- In addition to Seney's assist on LeBlanc's marker, freshman Derek Petti (Tewksbury, Mass.) also helped set up the play
- Goaltenders: L – Drew Vogler (30 saves, 1-4-1) // W – McGovern (21 saves, 2-11-3)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (0-2) // Maine (1-5)
- SOG (MC-ME): 8-11 // 8-7 // 6-11 // 1-4 // 23-33
- Faceoffs: MC - 31-of-60 (51.67%)
Up Next
Merrimack finishes up the regular season at home when it welcomes the University of Vermont next weekend. Friday's game will be broadcast live regionally on NESNplus and nationally via the American Sports Network (full channel listing will be posted next week). Prior to Friday's contest, the Athletic Department will hold a special pregame Fan Fest as part of Fan Appreciation Weekend starting at 6:30 p.m. Saturday's game will begin at 7 p.m., and prior to puck drop, the team will honor its senior class.
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