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Highlights
Postgame Comments:
Dennehy & Larsson
LOWELL, Mass. – Trailing by a goal with less than five minutes to play, senior
Jace Hennig drew the visitors even before junior
Ludvig Larsson won it late in the first overtime session, powering the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team to a dramatic, come-from-behind victory by a 2-1 tally over rival UMass Lowell in Game 1 of both teams' Hockey East Tournament Opening Round Series. The Warriors will look for the sweep in Game 2 tomorrow night back at the Tsongas Center.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 2, UMass Lowell 1 (F/OT)
Records: Merrimack (11-19-4, 7-15-2 HEA) | UMass Lowell (17-18-0, 11-13-0 HEA)
Location: Tsongas Center | Lowell, Mass.
Attendance: 2849
Game Duration: 2:50
Rapid Recap
- After both teams navigated through the first 10 minutes of the contest, Merrimack began to generate a number of chances, starting with a 2-on-1 rush that saw senior Alfred Larsson nearly squeeze a goal through but was denied in front. Classmate Mathieu Tibbet also had a breakaway but was turned away, and the Warriors had another great chance moments later following a steal behind the net. But despite dominating large stretches of the first, it would be the River Hawks that would score first, capitalizing on a turnover to take a 1-0 lead into the first intermission.
- UMass Lowell started the second period on the power play and then had another man advantage at the six-minute mark, but the Warriors turned aside both. At the tail end of the latter penalty, Merrimack had its best opportunity of the period after rookie Dominic Dockery hopped out of the box and found the puck after Lowell sent it all the way around the boards and out to the neutral zone. His 1-on-1 chance went wide, and Merrimack came up empty on its only power play of the period minutes later, keeping the score 1-0 in favor of the River Hawks heading to the third.
- Merrimack still found itself down by a goal with less than five minutes to play, but Hennig came to the rescue thanks to his team- and league-leading sixth career playoff goal, which sent the Warriors and River Hawks to overtime to decide the Game 1 victor.
- The Warriors carried all that momentum into the start of the sudden-death session, outshooting the hosts 7-1 in the first half of the period and nearly winning it on a number of occasions. Finally, Larsson potted his 12th of the year and second career overtime tally with less than two minutes to go in the frame, giving the Warriors a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.
Scoring Summaries
- Goal #1 (UML, 1-0): Connor Wilson put UMass Lowell ahead at 15:52 of the first. An errant pass in the Merrimack zone found Wilson instead, and he buried a wrist shot from the slot low glove side for his seventh of the year.
- Goal #2 (MC, 1-1): Hennig's team-leading sixth career playoff goal gave the Warriors life and drew the visitors even with less than five minutes to play. After a keep-in at the blue line, Merrimack cycled around the ring wing boards, as sophomore Sami Tavernier found senior Brett Seney down low. Seney would connect with Hennig, who buried a one-timer blocker side from just in front of the crease to tie it up.
- Goal #3 (MC, 2-1): Larsson capped off the victory with his team-leading second career playoff overtime winner, which came at 18:01 of overtime. Tavernier helped set it up with a big hit and a steal at the blue line and connected with Larsson. The latter ripped a wrist shot that found nothing but net from the near side circle to give the Warriors the win.
Notes and Notables
- Merrimack won its fourth straight postseason overtime game dating back to the 2014-15 season. The Warriors swept their Opening Round series against Northeastern that year, and then beat UNH in Game 2 of the 2016 Opening Round series at Lawler Rink, before Larsson pushed that streak to four in a row with his winner tonight.
- Hennig posted his 10th career playoff point, third most among active Hockey East players, and moved into sole possession of first place for active career goal-scoring in the league tournament with his sixth.
- Only UNH's Patrick Grasso has more career game-winning goals (3) than Larsson (2) after Friday's heroics.
- With Seney's helper on the game-tying tally, the senior recorded his 30th point of the season, becoming the first Warrior with back-to-back 30-point seasons since Chris Barton '11 (38-39) and Stephane Da Costa (45-45) did so in 2009-10 and 2010-11.
- Merrimack saw its all-time record against the River Hawks improve to 41-75-11, including 18-40-5 in Lowell. The Warriors snapped an eight-game winless stretch at the Tsongas Center (0-6-2), winning for the first time since Nov. 19, 2010.
- Merrimack improved to 6-14-0 when surrendering the first goal and won for the first time in 20 games (1-17-2) when scoring fewer than three goals. Merrimack's last win when scoring two goals or fewer was a 2-0 shutout win at Wisconsin on Nov. 19, 2016.
- Goaltenders: Craig Pantano (32 saves, 10-12-2) // Christoffer Hernberg (39 saves, 14-9-0)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (0-1) | UMass Lowell (0-2)
- Shots on Goal (MC-UML): 12-12 // 6-7 // 8-8 // 15-6 – 41-33
Merrimack Lineup
Forwards
Hennig | Seney | Tibbet
Petti | L. Larsson | Tavernier
Coomes | A. Larsson | Irvine
Babcock | Bales | McBride
Defense
Kolquist | Titcomb
Biega | Cook
Dockery | Kovacevic
Goaltenders
Pantano | Vogler | Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack and UMass Lowell will return to the Tsongas Center for Game 2 tomorrow night, as the Warriors will look to advance to the quarterfinal round of the league tournament with a win and a series sweep. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m.
