Links: Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team set a new high water mark with five goals from five different players but came up short on the road against No. 9 Providence College on Saturday night, as the Warriors fell to the Friars, 7-5, in Hockey East action at Schneider Arena.
The Basics
Score: Providence 7,
Merrimack 5
Records: Merrimack (4-9-0, 2-5-0 HEA) | #9 Providence (7-3-1, 4-2-0 HEA)
Location: Schneider Arena | Providence, R.I.
Game Duration: 2:30
How It Happened
- For the second straight night it was the Friars lighting the lamp first in the game's opening minute, this time at the 21-second mark. Merrimack tied the game near the halfway point of the period off a shorthanded tally by freshman Logan Drevitch, but Providence retook the lead with a power play goal shortly after and added another with an even strength goal off a rush to take a 3-1 lead. The Warriors would get one back after drawing two penalties in one sequence before junior Johnathan Kovacevic scored a 4-on-3 goal late in the frame to make it 3-2 Friars after 20 minutes.
- After the two teams combined for five goals in the opening stanza, they went off for six more in the second, as the Friars built a 7-4 lead following four more lamp-lighters compared to Merrimack's two. Senior Michael Babcock tied the game at the 4:41 mark before back-to-back Providence even strength goals made it 5-3. Rookie Chase Gresock stayed hot with his third goal in four games, but the Friars closed the second period ledger with two more salvos to account for their three-goal edge heading to the third. The hosts also heavily outshot Merrimack in the second, 17-4.
- Both teams had penalty-killing to do at the start of the third, but after that the ensuing 10 minutes of the contest were relatively uneventful before freshman Chase Olsen got on the board for the first time with just over five minutes to play. That, however, was the closest the Warriors got before ultimately falling by two.
Scoring Summaries
- Goal #1 (PC, 0-1): Scott Conway put the Friars on top in the opening minute of the contest for the second night in a row, netting his third of the year 21 seconds into the first. Brandon Duhaime started the sequence with a shot from the top of the slot through traffic. The puck leaked free and Conway jammed it home at the left side of the crease.
- Goal #2 (MC, 1-1): Drevitch drew the Warriors even with his second of the year at 10:51 of the first. He scored on a backhander on a shorthanded breakaway after being set up by juniors Sami Tavernier and Kovacevic to spring the rush.
- Goal #3 (PC, 1-2): Josh Wilkins restored Providence's lead at 12:22 on his third of the year, which was on the power play. Wilkins ripped a one-timer from the right circle over the right shoulder to make it 2-1.
- Goal #4 (PC, 1-3): Jack Duggan's fifth tally at 14:23 pushed the Friars ahead by two goals. He cleaned up a scoring sequence that was nearly thwarted after Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano made an incredible save on an initial chance by Kasper Bjorkqvist before Duggan potted the rebound.
- Goal #5 (MC, 2-3): Kovacevic got the Warriors within a goal late in the first, scoring his third while on a 4-on-3 power play at 19:01 of the first. He netted a wrister from the slot into the lower right corner of the net after being set up by classmates Tyler Irvine and Tavernier.
- Goal #6 (MC, 3-3): Babcock tied the game at the 4:41 of the second period, netting his second of the year with a steal and a score just after the expiration of a Merrimack penalty. He took a pass away in the neutral zone and came in down the right wing before scoring from the edge of the far circle.
- Goal #7 (PC, 3-4): Tyce Thompson answered Babcock's goal at 9:29 of the second with Providence on the power play. He buried an offensive zone draw with a wrist shot through traffic.
- Goal #8 (PC, 3-5): Providence needed only 11 seconds to go back up by two, as Kasper Bjorkvist finished off a 2-on-1 rush at 9:40 to push the Friar lead to 5-3.
- Goal #9 (MC, 4-5): Gresock brought the Warriors with a goal with this third tally in four games, as the rookie netted his third at 13:59 of the second. He entered the zone from the left side, passed to Babcock at the left wing who went back to Gresock in the slot, and the latter buried a seeing-eye wrister to make it 5-4.
- Goal #10 (PC, 4-6): Brandon Duhaime answered Gresock's goal with his fifth of the year at 15:13 of the second with the Friars on the power play.
- Goal #11 (PC, 4-7): Just after a Providence power play expired, Greg Printz scored on another rush at 18:39 of the third to make it 7-4.
- Goal #12 (MC, 5-7): Olsen became the fourth Warrior rookie to score after doing so 14:36 into the third. He took a feed from classmate Jordan Seyfert from the right half wall and snapped a quick shot from between the hashes for his first goal as a Warrior to get the visitors within two.
Highlights
- Four different Warriors finished with two points apiece: Kovacevic (1g, 1a), Irvine (2a), Babcock (1g, 1a) and Tavernier (2a).
- Olsen became the fourth rookie to record a goal this season after doing so in the third.
- Gresock and sophomore Dominic Dockery led the Warriors with four shots on goal.
- Babcock won 13 faceoffs, the most by any player on either team in the game.
Notes & Numbers
- Merrimack's power play scored in the eighth game this season, as the Warriors have at least one power play goal in eight out of 13 contests.
- Merrimack allowed seven goals in back-to-back games this weekend, marking the first time it has yielded seven-plus goals in consecutive games since January of 1998, when it did so in three straight contests.
- Merrimack fell to 1-8-2 in its last 11 games against Providence dating back to the start of the 2015-16 season.
- Saturday's game was just the sixth for Merrimack that hasn't been decided by a goal. They led the nation in one-goal games (7) coming into the weekend.
- Goaltenders: Craig Pantano (30 saves, 4-7-0) // Hayden Hawkey (17 saves, 7-3-0)
- Power Plays: 1-8 | 2-7
- Shots on Goal: 12-13 // 4-17 // 6-7 – 22-37
- Faceoffs: 30 // 36
Merrimack Lineup
Forwards
Gresock | Babcock | Irvine
L. Drevitch | Kramer | Tavernier
Simeone | T. Drevitch | Seyfert
Olsen | Bales | McKay
Defense
Dockery | Kovacevic
Heidt | Carle
Cook | Lööf
Solow
Goaltenders
Pantano | Vogler | Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack will entertain Atlantic Hockey member Holy Cross for a Black Friday afternoon affair next Friday (Nov. 23) at Lawler Rink, with puck drop set for 4 p.m.
