Links: Box Score
Video: Scott Borek Postgame Comments
BOSTON –
Jere Huhtamaa put in the best effort of his collegiate career Friday night at Agganis Arena, as the freshman goalie made 36 saves in the Merrimack College men's hockey team's 5-1 win over Boston University.
Huhtamaa kicked out all but one of the shots he saw and
Tyler Irvine's three points led the way offensively in the Warriors' convincing triumph.
The Basics
Score: Merrimack 5, Boston University 1
Records: Merrimack (7-18-3, 5-10-3 HEAM) | Boston University (10-9-6, 7-5-5 HEAM)
Game Duration: 2:10
Attendance: 3,499
How It Happened
- Merrimack was staked to the first power play of the night just a couple minutes in, but the Terriers turned the tides for a shorthanded goal by Robert Mastrosimone.
- The Warriors started to pick up their offensive zone time later on in the period and it led to some high quality chances. One of those chances started when Irvine slipped a pass to the left point for Patrick Holway with less than three minutes to go in the frame. The junior fed his classmate Dominic Dockery on the far point for a one-timed blast that hit the crossbar and rattled home for Dockery's first of the year.
- The second period started off with a Terrier power play, but the Warriors returned the shorthanded favor. Sami Tavernier forced a turnover in the neutral zone and quickly flipped a pass to Irvine at the red line. Irvine returned the puck to a streaking Tavernier, who had his original shot stopped, but Irvine pounced on the rebound for his team-leading 11th of the season.
- Just over 10 minutes later, Merrimack went back to the penalty kill, but this time, they made history. With the Terriers in control in their attacking end, Zach Uens sacrificed his body for a key shot block, then slapped the puck off the wall. Mac Welsher was the first to the loose puck and passed to Logan Drevitch, who broke forward through the neutral zone. With Welsher on his side on a 2-on-1, Drevitch did it himself and sent a wrist shot home top shelf on the far side. It marked the first time the Warriors had two shorthanded goals in a game since March 18, 2011 in a Hockey East semifinal game against UNH and the first time they had two shorthanded goals in the same period since they played UMass Lowell back on Nov. 20, 2010.
- Huhtamaa turned aside all 19 shots he faced in the second frame, including a pair of out-of-this-world stops.
- Merrimack and Huhtamaa silenced the Terrier offense in the third period and added cushion to the lead thanks to Holway. While the teams were skating 4-on-4 midway through the stanza, Holway took a pass from Tavernier in the neutral zone, then slalomed around the attacking end. He found a shot lane and fired one home for his third on the year.
- Regan Kimens put the final touches on the win four minutes later when he took a pass from Mac Welsher and scored short side for his fourth of the season.
Notes & Numbers
- Tavernier is now riding a six-game point streak.
- Holway, Irvine, Welsher and Tavernier all registered a multi-point game.
- Huhtamaa's 36 saves was a career high.
- The victory was the first for the Warriors at Agganis Arena since Jan. 27, 2017.
- Irvine now has 25 points in 26 games to lead the Warriors. No Warrior has averaged a point per game for an entire season since Mike Collins did it during the 2012-13 season.
Up Next
The Warriors come back to North Andover Saturday night to face Merrimack Valley rival UMass Lowell at Lawler Rink. Puck drop is set for 7 pm.
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