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Dennehy Postgame Comments
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team fell to No. 10/9 Providence on Friday night, as the Friars netted the game-winner midway through the third and held on to take the weekend series opener. The two teams will meet again tomorrow night at Lawler Rink.
The Basics
Score: Providence 2,
Merrimack 1
Records: Merrimack (2-7-2, 1-4-0 HEA) | #10/9 Providence (7-4-0, 4-3-0 HEA)
Location: Schneider Arena | Providence, R.I.
Game Duration: 2:17
Rapid Recap
- Merrimack struck first just eight seconds into its first power play of the night, and that turned out to be the lone goal in the opening frame. The Warriors had a number of chances in the stanza after putting 19 shots on net altogether and had a late major power play toward the end of the period, but their lead stayed 1-0 after 20 minutes.
- With just over a minutes' worth of power play time to start the second, the Warriors had some early opportunities to double their lead but were denied doing so by the Friars' penalty kill. With Merrimack holding a 24-12 lead in shots on goal midway through the game, Providence used a pair of power play opportunities late in the period to turn the tide in its favor and eventually capitalized on its third man advantage of the night with just under four minutes left in the second to make it a 1-1 affair heading to the third.
- After Providence started the third period with 1:50 of power play time, Merrimack killed the remainder of that penalty to keep the contest level. But the Friars would break through at the 10:57 mark of the third and then withheld a furious late charge by the Warriors, who finished with 41 shots on net but were denied the equalizer.
Scoring Summaries
- Junior Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) gave Merrimack the lead just eight seconds into its first power play of the night and at the 5:47 mark of the contest. Senior Brett Seney (London, Ontario) picked up the puck at the left half wall and fed classmate Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia) at the edge of the circle. Hennig would angle a pass to Larsson in the slot, who was denied on his first backhand attempt but pushed the rebound through the pads of PC goaltender Hayden Hawkey for the opening tally.
- Providence drew even at the 17:22 mark of the period on Josh Wilkin's first of two goals on the evening. With the Friars on the power play, Erik Foley carried the puck toward the net and went to the forehand while cutting across the crease. After the initial save was made, Wilkins was there to put the puck home on the rebound at the weak side post.
- Providence went ahead with 9:03 left in the game, as Wilkins again was the hero for the hosts with his second of the game. He hopped on a clearing attempt that took a bounce off the right wing boards but stayed in the zone; he then split the defense and put a backhander past Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) to give the Friars the lead.
Notes and Notables
- Merrimack finished with 41 shots on goal but were denied 40 times by Hawkey. The only other occasion in which Merrimack had more shots on goal was in its home opener against Wisconsin (42).
- The Warriors outshot Providence by a 13-3 margin in the third period alone and had 19 shots on goal in the first period, the most in a single period this season.
- Pantano fell to 2-2-0 on the season while finishing with 22 saves.
- Merrimack was held to fewer than three goals for the eighth time in 11 games and fell to 0-7-1 in those situations.
- Seney now has a three-game point streak with five points in that span (2g, 3a), while Hennig and Larsson now have points in back-to-back contests with three points each.
Merrimack Lineup
Petti | Seney | Tavernier
Hennig | L. Larsson | McBride
Coomes | Drevitch | Irvine
Babcock | A. Larsson | Tibbet
Kolquist | Titcomb
Biega | Carle
Dockery | Kovacevic
Pantano
Vogler
Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack and Providence conclude their weekend series back at Lawler Rink tomorrow night. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m., and the game will also be broadcast regionally and nationally on NESN and NESN National.
