Links: Box Score //
Highlights
Postgame Comments:
Borek //
Pantano
BOSTON – After freshman forward
Chase Gresock broke a scoreless deadlock five minutes into the third period, senior goaltender
Craig Pantano assured the goal would be the game's last as part of a career night in net, as the Merrimack College men's ice hockey team held on to claim a 1-0 shutout victory at No. 11 Northeastern University on Saturday night at Matthews Arena.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 1, Northeastern 0
Records: Merrimack (5-15-1, 3-9-0 HEA) | #11 Northeastern (12-4-1, 6-2-1 HEA)
Location: Matthews Arena | Boston, Mass.
Attendance: 2,694
Game Duration: 2:20
How It Happened
- Northeastern had plenty of chances in the opening frame but were thwarted, in large part, due to the Herculean efforts of Pantano, who denied all 17 shots he saw. The Warriors, for their credit, had 10 shots and killed a Northeastern power play, as both sides entered the second looking to get on the board.
- The second period saw much of the same, as Northeastern had the majority of scoring chances with an 11-6 edge in shots on goal – although the Warriors had five of the final seven shots in the period – but were unable to solve Pantano again, keeping the score deadlocked at 0-0 after 40 minutes.
- It was finally Gresock who lit the lamp for the first time by either side 5:28 into the third period, burying one right off the faceoff win by senior Derek Petti for his fourth of the year and first of the game-winning variety.
- But the game was far from over, as Merrimack had to deal with a Northeastern power play midway through the frame and then turn aside about 90 seconds' worth of the Huskies employing an extra attacker. Pantano, to his credit, would add 14 more saves – including seven more after the Gresock goal – to his resume for the evening, helping the Warriors snap a nine-game winless stretch.
Notes & Numbers
- Pantano finished with a career-high 42 saves and moved into a tie for second place in the country with his fourth shutout of the season and fifth of his career.
- The 40-save performance was the first by any Merrimack goaltender since former Warrior and current Chicago Blackhawk Collin Delia '17, who had 40 at Notre Dame on Jan. 16, 2016.
- In addition to snapping a season-long nine-game winless streak (0-8-1) – its longest since losing 10 straight from Dec. 29, 2015 through Jan. 31, 2016 – Merrimack also picked up its first win over Northeastern in nine tries (0-8-1). The last Warrior win against the Huskies was in the 2015 Hockey East Tournament Opening Round as part of a two-game series sweep, with the last win coming on March 7, 2015, by a 2-1 score in double overtime.
- Merrimack's 19 blocked shots were a new season-high.
- Goaltenders: Craig Pantano (42 saves, 5-10-1) // Ryan Ruck (21 saves, 2-1-0)
- Power Plays: 0-2 | 0-3
- Shots on Goal: 10-17 // 6-11 // 6-14 – 22-42
- Faceoffs: 20 // 35
- Blocks: 19 // 13
Merrimack Lineup
Forwards
Gresock | Petti | Tavernier
Kramer | Babcock | Irvine
Coomes | von Ungern-Sternberg | Seyfert
L. Drevitch | T. Drevitch | Olsen
Defense
Dockery | McArdle
Heidt | Carle
McBride | Cook
Goaltenders
Pantano | Vogler | Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack will face a quick turnaround, as it hops on a plane to Detroit on Sunday to take on the University of Michigan, a 2018 Frozen Four participant, on Tuesday night in Ann Arbor. Puck drop from Yost Arena is set for 7:30 p.m.
