BOSTON, Mass. —The Merrimack College men's ice hockey scored two third-period goals en route to a 2-0 victory over second-seeded UMass Amherst in the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden on Friday afternoon.
The Warriors advance to the Hockey East Championship at TD Garden on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. After beating the No. 1 Providence Friars and No. 2 Minutemen, Merrimack will face No. 3 UConn in the title game. Merrimack became the first-ever No. 8 seed, and the lowest-seeded team, to ever advance to the Hockey East Final.
Max Lundgren is arguably the biggest reason why the Warriors advanced to the title game. Lundgren recorded a 24-save shutout against the Minutemen including 10 fourth-period stops. He became the first goaltender to record a shutout in the Hockey East semifinal since Connor Hellebuyck (2014). It was his first shutout since Oct. 24, which happened to be his first-ever start.
Ryan O'Connell netted what proved to be the game-winning goal three minutes into the third period. O'Connell received a pass from
Ty Daneault, sped past a UMass defender and ultimately turned it into a breakaway bid.
Merrimack's
Caden Cranston netted an empty-netter in the final minutes to provide some much-appreciated insurance.
Austin Oravetz knocked the puck to
Parker Lalonde to start the bid for Cranston, who fought off a defender and slid in into the net.
The Warriors had three power players in the second period, but couldn't cash in on any of those chances.
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