NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - The Merrimack College men's ice hockey team dropped its series finale to Maine on Saturday night, falling by a 4-2 score at Lawler Rink.
Seniors Alex Carle and Derek Petti scored for the Warriors, who return to action next weekend with a home-and-home against UMass Lowell.
The Basics
Score: Maine 4, Merrimack 2
Records: Merrimack (7-21-2, 4-15-1 HEA) | Maine (12-14-4, 8-8-4 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink | North Andover, Mass.
Attendance: 2,345
Game Duration: 2:40
How It Happened
- A four-goal first period featured two strikes from both sides. Carle got things started on the power play after banking a shot off the far glass and in off a Maine defender's stick for the opening marker at 3:48. The Black Bears would tie things up at 10:40, but Petti snapped home his fifth goal of the year after a faceoff scrum to restore the Warriors' lead four minutes later. Maine leveled the ledger before the opening period was over, lighting the lamp at 15:44.
- Penalties began to pile up toward the end of the first; initially, Merrimack had a brief 5-on-3 advantage, but another late infraction would give the Black Bears a power play to close out the period and start the second. The Warriors would get the kill, but Maine would take a 3-2 lead with less than eight minutes left in the middle stanza and fend off a pair of Merrimack power plays over the remainder of the frame to carry that edge into the second intermission.
- Merrimack first had to kill off a penalty early in the third, which proved to be thematic over the final 20 minutes; 10 penalties were called in that span, including a five-minute major and game misconduct that gave the Warriors an extended power play that they were unable to capitalize on.
- The game came down to the final 90 seconds, as the Warriors had one last power play and opted for the extra attacker to force the tie, but Maine would instead get an empty-netter to seal the final outcome.
Notes & Numbers
- In addition to the goals by Carle and Petti, junior Tyler Irvine and freshman Logan Drevitch also earned assists on the night.
- Merrimack finished with a season-high 41 shots on goal, marking the first time this season it put 40-plus shots on target.
- Merrimack saw its all-time record against Maine move to 22-70-10 with a 12-28-7 mark at home.
- Goaltenders: Logan Halladay (18 saves, 0-4-4) // Jeremy Swayman (39 saves, 12-14-4)
- Power Plays: 1-10 | 0-5
- Shots on Goal: 14-10 // 15-12 // 12-8 - 41-30
- Faceoffs: 36 // 44
- Blocks: 6 // 12
Merrimack Lineup
Forwards
Gresock | Petti | Tavernier
Coomes | Babcock | Irvine
L. Drevitch | Kramer | Seyfert
Simeone | T. Drevitch | McKay
McBride
Defense
Cook | McArdle
Heidt | Kovacevic
Dockery | Carle
Goaltenders
Pantano | Vogler | Halladay
Up Next
Merrimack will take on local rival UMass Lowell in the penultimate regular season weekend starting next Friday night (Feb. 22) at the Tsongas Center at 7:15 p.m.