NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team will host a pair of opponents in the penultimate weekend of the regular season, as the Warriors welcome the University of New Hampshire and Boston University to town on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
Hockey East Playoff Picture
All teams qualify; seeds 1-5 receive byes in the opening round; seeds 6-8 host opening round playoff series; winners advance to quarterfinals.
Opening round and quarterfinals are best-of-three series.
Conference records/points shown below (as of Feb. 15).
1. Boston College (15-6-0, 30 points)
2. Providence (11-6-4, 26 points)
3. Northeastern (11-6-3, 25 points)
T4. Boston U. (10-7-3, 23 points)
T4. Maine (10-8-3, 23 points)
6. UConn (10-11-1, 21 points)
7. UMass Lowell (10-10-0, 20 points)
8. Vermont (6-9-5, 17 points)
9. Massachusetts (7-13-2, 16 points)
10. New Hampshire (5-11-5, 15 points)
11. Merrimack (5-13-2, 12 points)
PARKING AND SECURITY ADVISORY
Due to enhanced security regulations in place on campus, fans are encouraged to arrive to Lawler Rink
EARLY on game nights. The Lawler Rink security staff reserves the right to check
ALL bags and ask guests to leave inappropriate or prohibited items in their car or outside of the gates.
All guests are subject to search.
Please note the following parking restrictions for Saturday night's game:
- Lot F (MAC) is reserved for hockey season ticket holders
- Lot G (Deegan/Fenton Road) is reserved for reserved parking.
Click here to view campus map.
WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
- TRADING CARD GIVEAWAY #4 (FRIDAY)
- Collect them all! The fourth installment of the 2017-18 Warrior Hockey Trading Card Series hits Lawler Rink this Friday night. Get your pack while supplies last and try to collect every player card this season!
- HONORING DICK UMILE: The Merrimack Athletic Department will honor longtime UNH head coach Dick Umile as he makes his final regular season appearance at Lawler Rink on Friday with a pregame ceremony.
Inside the Series (UNH)
- Meeting for the 110th time since this weekend, Merrimack trails New Hampshire in the all-time series with a 24-74-11 mark against the Wildcats.
- Merrimack took the series opener earlier this year at Durham by a 4-3 score. It marked the Warriors' first win at the Whittemore Center since Feb. 2, 2013.
- The two schools have met in each of the last two postseasons; Merrimack rallied to win the best-of-three series in 2016 before UNH returned the favor last March.
- Merrimack is 13-29-7 all-time at home against UNH compared to 9-45-3 on the road. Over the last four years, Merrimack owns a 3-4-1 record at home against the Wildcats.
Inside the Series (BU)
- Merrimack and BU?have met just about every year since the late 1960s; they will be meeting for the 114th time on Saturday.
- While Merrimack is just 19-86-8 all-time against BU, including an 11-28-5 record in North Andover and an 8-57-3 mark at BU, the Warriors did sweep the season series for the first time last winter and are 3-3-0 in their last six games against the Terriers.
- Merrimack's sweep of BU last year came when the Terriers were ranked No. 1 nationally; the Warriors also took down a top-ranked BU team back in the 1998 Hockey East playoffs, marking their only wins ever against a team ranked No. 1 in a national poll.
- BU snapped a four-game winless stretch at Lawler Rink in January; the Terriers had been 0-3-1 since their last win in North Andover, which came on Jan. 11, 2013.
- Merrimack is 11-28-5 all-time at home against BU compared to 8-57-3 on the road.
'Mack Facts
- Merrimack has not played in 10 days and last saw action last Tuesday at UMass, a 5-2 loss. Overall, the Warriors are 8-17-4 on the year with a 5-13-2 mark in league play.
- Merrimack owns a 4-6-2 record at home but is 4-11-2 on the road.
- Senior Brett Seney has moved into the team lead with 27 points on a team-high 11 goals and is tied with junior Ludvig Larsson in goal-scoring.
- Two other seniors have passed the 20-point barrier in Jace Hennig (23) and Jared Kolquist (21). Seven total Warriors are in double-digit scoring figures on the year.
- Kolquist is the highest-scoring defenseman on the team and has dished 17 assists.
- Seney ranks seventh in Hockey East in overall scoring and third in power play points (18); he also ranks third with seven power play goals.
- Kolquist, Hennig and sophomore Sami Tavernier rank sixth and seventh with 15 and 13 power play points, respectively.
- Goaltender Craig Pantano has seen the bulk of the time in net and started 19 of the last 23 games; he is 7-10-2 with a 2.41 GAA and .914 SV% on the year..
Wildcat Watch
- UNH enters Friday with a 10-15-6 overall record and is 5-11-5 in league play.
- The Wildcats had one of the best starts of any team nationwide, winning each of their first five games en route to a 6-1-1 start. They have gone 4-14-5 since then, however, and lost in overtime at home against Maine on Wednesday night.
- Senior Michael McNicholas leads UNH with 23 points on a team-leading 18 assists, while junior Ara Nazarian's nine goals are most among the Wildcats.
- Rookie Max Gildon has potted a team-most five power play goals and represents the top-scoring rookie and top-scoring defenseman on the team.
- Senior Daniel Tirone has made all but two starts for the Wildcats and has posted a goals against average of 2.56 with a .917 save percentage while going 10-13-6.
- UNH ranks 42nd nationally in scoring offense (2.68) and 20th in scoring defense (2.65); their power play ranks 38th (17.3) while their PK is second-best (88.6).
- Dick Umile is in his 28th and final season coaching the Wildcats. He started the year with a 586-353-108 all-time coaching mark in that span.
Tracking the Terriers
- BU enters Saturday at 15-12-3 overall with a 10-7-3 mark in league play. They had a nine-game unbeaten streak (7-0-2) snapped in Monday's Beanpot Final and play at UConn on Friday night.
- Junior Bobo Carpenter leads all Terriers with 28 points on a team-high 17 goals (7 power play goals) and is one of seven total Terriers above 20 points. Junior Jordan Greenway, sophomore Dante Fabbro and freshman Brady Tkachuk all share the team lead with 16 assists, while rookie Shane Bowers is the top-scoring freshman in Hockey East.
- Sophomore Jake Oettinger has started 28 of 30 games for the Terriers and owns a 2.61 goals against average, as well as a .908 save percentage.
- BU ranks 12th nationally in scoring offense (3.17) and 26th in scoring defense (2.77); the Terriers' power play ranks 10th (23.1) while their PK ranks 55th (77.0).
- David Quinn is in his fifth season at BU; he started the year 83-54-17 all-time.
Up Next
Merrimack will play a home-and-home series with nearby rival UMass Lowell to conclude the regular season next weekend. Puck drop each night is set for 7 p.m.
