Links: Box Score | Highlights

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College women's ice hockey team battled Northeastern to a 1-1 tie on Saturday afternoon, during Hockey East action from Lawler Rink. The Huskies were receiving votes towards the USCHO poll.

The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, Northeastern 1 | Final OT
Records: Merrimack (4-8-3, 1-4-2 WHEA) // RV Northeastern (6-6-2, 4-3-1 WHEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.

Rapid Recap:

• Merrimack opened the first period with a quick breakaway shot by junior Paige Sorensen (Plymouth, Minn.). However, Northeastern goalie Aerin Frankel made the pad save. Sophomore goalie Lea-Kristine Demers (Repentigny, Quebec) made a few big saves early on through traffic.
• Merrimack could not take advantage of a bench minor to the Huskies late in the period. The teams combined for 16 shots in the first period, with Northeastern having the 10-6 advantage, but went into the first intermission scoreless.
•  Northeastern had an early penalty at the 1:52 mark, but Merrimack's defensive unit came up with a pair of blocks by junior Felila Manu (Anchorage, Alaska).
• Freshman Maddy Burton (Aurora, Ill.) broke down the right side of the ice, but her quick shot went off the pads of Frankel midway through the period. A strike by the Huskies at 7:37 of the period put them ahead 1-0. Demers made a great save to keep it a 1-0 deficit with 9:13 left in the period. Penalties toward the end of the period put the teams at 4-on-4 that carried over to the third period.
• Merrimack had a pair of shots by junior Paige Voight (St. Michael, Minn.) and Burton in the opening minutes of the third that were stopped by Frankel.
• After the initial call was ruled no goal at 5:29 for Merrimack, the play went under review and changed to a good goal by sophomore Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Brampton, Ontario).
• Merrimack ended the third with a 14-4 advantage on the shot chart.
• Demers made six saves in the overtime period. Merrimack had a chance to score late, but the puck went off the pipe on a shot by Sorensen as time was winding down.

Scoring Summaries

• Northeastern struck first in the 7:37 mark of the second period. Taytum Clairmont picked up her third goal of the season, forcing a turnover on the back check. Her first shot from the slot was stopped, but the rebound went right back to her and she fired a shot to the top right part of the net to put her team ahead 1-0.
• Merrimack tied the game at 5:29 of the third period. Voight passed the puck to the front of the net and junior Katelyn Rae (Courtice, Ontario) had the initial one-timer shot that bounced off Frankel's pads, The rebound found the skate of Grant-Mentis and was redirected underneath the goalies pads and into the net.

Notes and Notables

• It was the fifth overtime Merrimack has gone into, where the Warriors are 1-1-3 this year.
• The Warriors blocked 16 shots in the game, as Manu finished with a team-high four in the game.
• Grant-Mentis scored her third goal of the season, while Voight picked up her team-leading fifth assist of the year. It was Rae's third helper of the season, as she now has a team-high eight points on the year.
• Goaltenders: T- Léa-Kristine Demers (33 Saves, 3-2-2) // T– Aerin Frankel (32 Saves, 1-1-1)
• Power Plays: Merrimack (0-5) | Northeastern (0-3)
• SOG (MC-NU): 6-10 | 10-14 | 14-4 | 3-6 | 33-34

Up Next
The Warriors are back in action next weekend with another home-and-home series, this time against Providence. The first game is at Lawler Rink and puck drop for both games is scheduled for 7 p.m.