North Andover, MA— The Merrimack Men's Hockey Team clinched a home playoff game in style with a 5-3 victory over the UMass Lowell Riverhawks on Thursday night at Lawler Arena.
After going behind, the Warriors got back on level terms through the return of Ty Daneault who scored his third of the season in the final minute.
In the second, Lowell would score early, but Merrimack took command with three goals in just over three minutes, with Ryan O'Connell tying the score on a solo effort, Caden Cranston picking a Riverhawk pocket to go ahead and Justin Gill's 15th goal of the season on a spinorama in front. That goal from Gill made him the first Warrior to reach 15 goals in a season since Hampus Gustafsson did it in 2016-17.
Lowell would cut the lead to one in the late stages, scoring on a major powerplay, but the Warriors would bag an empty netter through Gill to salt the game away, as the Warriors won their 12th home game of the season, their most home wins in a season since 2022-23.
The Warriors will host a home playoff game against a yet to be named opponent on Wednesday, March 11 at Lawler Arena.
