NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Merrimack College men's ice hockey program hits the road for its third game away from campus of the year on Thursday, taking on the College of Holy Cross for a 7 p.m. puck drop at the Hart Center in Worcester, Mass. The contest will air live on NESNPlus, with a Channel Finder for tomorrow evening available above. Tomorrow's game is also available to be web-streamed via FloHockey for fans outside of New England.
Five Things To Know
- The Warriors and Crusaders will meet for the 43rd time in the program's history, but just for the 14th time at the home of the Crusaders. Merrimack owns a 30-9-3 edge in the all-time series against Holy Cross, which includes an 8-4-2 mark at the Hart Center. After playing in every season between 1977-89, Thursday's game will be the just the 10th meeting over the last 20 years. Merrimack has a six-game unbeaten streak in Worcester
- The Warriors boasted five different goal scorers in Saturday's home opener against Wisconsin, which saw a pair of freshmen net their first career college tallies. Rookie winger Regan Kimens started the scoring for Merrimack late in the first period while classmate Zach Vinnell ripped home a shot from his right-defenseman position to bookend the scoring.
- The Warriors used the entirety of their tri-headed goaltending attack on Saturday; freshman Jere Huhtamaa earned the start while classmates James Corcoran and Troy Kobryn all saw ice time. For Corcoran, the first-year netminder made his Merrimack debut on Lawler ice.
- All 10 of Merrimack's goals through three games are of the even-strength variety. The Warriors have yet to score on the powerplay while Merrimack has prevented a powerplay goal during 9-of-13 opportunities on the penalty kill.
- Holy Cross recorded just its eighth win over a ranked program in school history, 3-2, in overtime over #6/7 Providence to start the season. It was also their fourth-ever over a top-10 team. Junior Andrew Dumaresque was named Atlantic Hockey Player of the Week after his multi-point performance freshman goalie Matt Radomsky was named the Atlantic Rookie of the Week following a 31-save debut.
Inside the Matchup:
| Merrimack (0-3-0) |
Category |
Holy Cross (1-0-0) |
| 10/12 vs. #16/15 Wisconsin (L, 11-5) |
Last Time Out |
11/13 vs. USA Hockey NTDP (L, 4-2) |
| 3.3 |
Scoring Offense |
3.0 |
| 7.0 |
Scoring Defense |
2.0 |
| 26.3 |
Shots/Game |
27.0 |
| 24.3 |
Shots Allowed/Game |
33.0 |
| 0-10 |
PPG-Chances |
0-4 |
| 0% |
PP% |
0.0% |
| 9-13 |
PK-Chances |
3-3 |
| 69.2% |
PK% |
100.0% |
| 17-45 |
Penalties-PIM |
4-8 |
| 5.7 |
PIM/Game |
8.0 |
| 83-104 |
Faceoffs (W-L) |
26-38 |
| 44.4% |
Faceoff % |
40.6% |
Up Next
The Warriors continue their two-game non-conference road trip on Saturday when the visit RIT for a 7 p.m. puck drop at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y.
