Men's Ice Hockey Takes Weekend Opener vs. Vermont, 4-1; Warriors Now 7th in HEA Standings
Links: Box Score | Dennehy Postgame Comments | Bahe Postgame Comments
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team built a three-goal lead and never looked back on its way to a 4-1 home victory against the University of Vermont on Friday night at Lawler Rink. The win pushes the Warriors up into seventh place in the league standings, and a victory tomorrow would secure a home ice spot in the Hockey East Tournament Opening Round.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 4, Vermont 1
Records: Merrimack (10-16-7, 4-10-7 HEA) | Vermont (12-19-3, 6-12-3 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
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 (15/35) H2H vs. PC, BU – Clinched share of reg. season title
2. Providence (15/33) H2H vs. UND
3. Notre Dame (14 league wins/30 pts)
4. Boston U. (12/28) H2H vs. NU, UVM
5. UMass Lowell (11/26) H2H vs. ND
6. Northeastern (9/22)
7. Merrimack (4/15) H2H vs. UMass, 1-0 vs. UVM
8. Vermont (6/15) H2H vs. NU, UConn, UNH
9. Connecticut (5/14) H2H vs. ME; 1-0 vs. UNH
10. New Hampshire (4/14) H2H vs. MC, ME
11. Maine (5/12) H2H vs. UVM
12. Massachusetts (2/8) H2H vs. UConn
Merrimack clinches a home-ice spot with:
- A win tomorrow assures Merrimack will finish seventh in the league standings and host either UNH or UConn in the Opening Round of the league tournament next week
- A tie vs. Vermont tomorrow also secures a home ice spot and the No. 7 seed IF New Hampshire does not win against UConn; if UNH loses, Merrimack will host UNH next weekend
- A tie tomorrow and a UNH win would mean Merrimack would finish ninth and travel to New Hampshire next weekend
- A tie tomorrow and UConn sweeps UNH: Three-way tie with 16 pts: 7. MC, 8. UVM, 9. UConn., 10. UNH – 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, hosting #10 UNH.).
- A win and tie vs. Vermont and UNH/UConn tie – 7th in standings with 16 pts, winning head-to-head vs. Vermont , hosting UNH next weekend
- A loss would send Merrimack on the road to either UVM, UNH or UConn
NOTE – Not confirmed by Hockey East; other scenarios may exist
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
Needing a win to stay in the hunt for home ice in the Opening Round of the Hockey East Tournament, Merrimack welcomed Vermont to campus for the first time in two years looking to snap a four-game losing streak against the Catamounts.
Both sides played an even first period that didn't feature many scoring chances, as the game entered the second stanza still scoreless.
The hosts needed just over two minutes to get on the board in the middle frame, as junior Chris LeBlanc (Winthrop, Mass.) fired a shot on net, picked up the rebound out of midair, placed it back on the ice and roofed it home to give the Warriors a 1-0 lead.
Moments after killing off Vermont's first power play of the night, Merrimack doubled the lead off an odd-man rush that ended with senior Justin Hussar (Lancaster, N.Y.) tipping in a solid centering feed from junior Hampus Gustafsson (Ljungby, Sweden) to make it a 2-0 game, and the Warriors would carry that lead into the second intermission.
After going to its first power play of the night early in the third, Merrimack tripled the lead after senior Ben Bahe (Stillwater, Minn.) hopped on a loose puck and carried it in on a breakaway before roofing a wrister from the far dot at the 3:24 mark.
The Catamounts ended the shutout with about eight minutes to go after Brady Shaw redirected a shot from the blue line, but junior Jonathan Lashyn (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan) erased any doubts after firing a one-timer from the top of the far circle over the glove and in to add some insurance and seal the victory.
How They Scored
MC #1 (LeBlanc/Petti/Babcock) | P2 2:17 – Picks up his own rebound, scores glove side on the right side of the crease.
MC #2 (Hussar/Gustafsson/Babcock) | P2 9:32 – Tipped in near the crease blocker side off a 2-on-1 centering feed from the bottom of the right circle.
MC #2 (Hussar/Gustafsson/Babcock) | P2 9:32 – Tipped in near the crease blocker side off a 2-on-1 centering feed from the bottom of the right circle.
MC #3 (Bahe) (PPG) | P3 3:24 – Breakaway wrist shot from the far dot.
UVM #1 (Shaw/Pattyn/Senkbeil) | P3 11:24 – Shot redirected in the slot, bounces into the net blockers ide.
MC #4 (Lashyn) | P3 17:28 – One-timer from above the far circle goes over the glove untouched.
Notes and Numbers
- Freshman Michael Babcock (Northville, Mich.) led all players with two points, registering his second career multi-point night
- Seven different Warriors finished with at least a point on the night
- Merrimack outshot the Catamounts by a 25-13 margin over the final two periods, including a 15-6 edge in the second
- Goaltenders: W – Drew Vogler (23 saves, 2-4-1) // L – Munson (34 saves, 8-9-1)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (1-3) // Vermont (0-2)
- SOG (MC-UVM): 13-11 // 15-6 // 10-7 // 38-24
- Faceoffs: MC - 39-of-59 (66.17%)
Up Next
Merrimack wraps up the regular season at Lawler Rink on Saturday night against the Catamounts, with puck drop set for 7 p.m. following the program's Senior Night. Merrimack can clinch a home ice spot for the upcoming Hockey East Tournament with a win and possibly a tie depending on other results around the league.
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