Seney Lifts Men's Ice Hockey Past #15/17 Vermont, 3-2; Warriors to Host HEA Tournament Opening Round

Seney Lifts Men's Ice Hockey Past #15/17 Vermont, 3-2; Warriors to Host HEA Tournament Opening Round

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Links: Box Score 
Postgame Comments: Dennehy

BURLINGTON, Vt. – With the game hanging in the balance late in regulation, junior forward Brett Seney (London, Ontario) broke the tie with under seven minutes to play to lead the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team past No. 15/17 Vermont, 3-2, and, more importantly, help the Warriors secure home ice in the Opening Round of the 2017 Hockey East Tournament for the second straight season.

The Basics
 Score: Merrimack 3, Vermont 2
Records: Merrimack (14-14-6, 8-8-6 HEA) | #15/17 Vermont (18-11-5, 10-8-4 HEA)
Location: Gutterson Fieldhouse | Burlington, Vt.
Attendance: 4007
Game Duration: 2:25

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. UMass Lowell (14/29) H2H vs. UVM, UNH, MC, BC
2. Boston U. (13/29) H2H vs. BC, PC
 3. Boston College (13 league wins/29 points) – H2H vs. PC,
4. Notre Dame (12/28) H2H vs. UVM, UNH, NU
5. Providence (12/27) H2H vs. UML, UNH, UC
6. Vermont (10/24) H2H vs. NU
7. Merrimack (8/22) H2H vs. BC, BU, PC
8. Northeastern (9/21) H2H vs. MC
 9. Connecticut (8/20) H2H vs. UML
10. New Hampshire (7/18) H2H vs. MC, NU, ME
11. Maine (4/10) H2H vs. UMA
12. Massachusetts (2/5)

  • Merrimack will playUNH at Lawler Rink in the Opening Round of the Hockey East Tournament starting Friday night.

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

  • Merrimack hopped out to a quick break after sophomore Derek Petti (Tewksbury, Mass.) scored 2:14 into the proceedings; classmate Ludvig Larsson (Malmo, Sweden) poked the puck in the neutral zone to senior Jonathan Lashyn (Saskatoon, Saskatchewan), who shot it off a Vermont player and the deflection landed on Petti's stick, and he was able to net his fourth on a wrist shot from the left circle.
  • Vermont's response came off the stick of Jarrid Privitera at the six-minute mark thanks to a bit of puck luck; Privitera, who was sitting for a two-minute slashing minor, hopped out of the box just as Mario Puskarich banked the puck out of the defensive zone, and that perfect timing led to a breakaway chance for the former and he capitalized to level the game.
  • Later in the first, Vermont appeared to take a 2-1 lead after knocking a puck into the net from the crease, but the goal was overturned after review deemed that the puck was already covered.
  • That led to a two-goal swing, as junior Jace Hennig (Port Moody, British Columbia) netted his eighth of the season at 12:49 to give the Warriors the lead back; freshman Sami Tavernier (Morzine, France) worked the puck off the half wall and pushed it to classmate Johnathan Kovacevic (Grimsby, Ontario) at the top of the right circle. He found Hennig all alone at the left circle, and the latter buried a wrist shot to push Merrimack back in front.
  • But the Catamounts responded on their second power play of the period to lock things up at 2-2; Brady Shaw scored from the left point after a faceoff win, and that score went unchanged heading to the second.
  • Things calmed down from an offensive standpoint in the middle stanza, as neither side found the back of the net. Merrimack had the better of the chances and the only power play of the period, but the game remained deadlocked at 2-2 heading to the third.
  • With the score still tied late in regulation, it was Seney who came through in the clutch; freshman Ryan Cook (Lancaster, N.Y.) poked the puck up to him in the neutral zone, and Seney beat UVM goaltender Stefanos Lekkas with a wrist shot from the far circle to push the Warriors in front.
  • Nearly four minutes later, the Catamounts appeared to draw even, but the hosts' would-be goal was deemed illegal due to interference with the goaltender, and Merrimack held on from there on out to earn the weekend split.

Notes & Notables

  • Seney moved into a tie for the lead nationwide in game-winning goals after potting his sixth such marker on Saturday night.

Merrimack Lineup
Seney | Gustafsson | Tavernier
Hennig | L. Larsson | LeBlanc
Babcock | A. Larsson | Irvine
Petti | Drevitch

Biega | Titcomb
Kolquist | Kovacevic
Lashyn | Cook
Carle

Delia
Vogler
Pantano

Game Leaders (MC // UVM)

  • Points: Eight players (1) // Puskarich (2)
  • Goals: Three players (1) // Privitera/Shaw (1)
  • Assists: Five players (1) // Puskarich (2)
  • Shots: Four players (3) // Privitera (3)
  • Faceoffs Won: Hampus Gustafsson (13) // Liam Coughlin (9)
  • Saves: Collin Delia (31-for-33) // Stefanos Lekkas (20-for-23)

Facts and Figures (MC // UVM)

  • Power Plays: 0-1 // 1-2
  • Penalties: 3 Penalties – 6 Minutes // 3 Penalties – 6 Minutes
  • Faceoffs: 33 // 27
  • SOG: 8-15 // 9-9 // 6-9 // 23-33

Up Next
 Merrimack will host the University of New Hampshire in a best-of-three series in the 2017 Hockey East Tournament Opening Round starting next Friday (March 3) night. Puck drop for each night is 7 p.m., barring any changes in the schedule due to television.

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For continuing coverage of Merrimack College Athletics, visit MerrimackAthletics.com and follow the Warriors on Twitter and on Facebook.

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