CANTON, N.Y. - The Merrimack Men's Ice Hockey team was unable to overcome two goals given up in three minutes despite a powerplay goal from Mark Hillier, and stretches of controlling play as they dropped their season opener by a score of 3-1 Friday night at the Appleton Arena in Canton New York.
The Basics
Score: St. Lawrence 3, RV/RV Merrimack 1
Records: Merrimack (0-1-0, 0-0-0 HEA) |St. Lawrence (1-1-0, 0-0-0 ECAC)
Attendance: 1,478
How it happened:
- St.Lawrence grabbed the lead after two penalties put Merrimack on the five on three, and the Saints converted on one powerplay, and added their second just over two minutes later. And the Warriors found themselves down 2-0 after the first 20 minutes of the season.
- The second period swung more in Merrimack's favor and they were able to have the shot on goal advantage (8-7) and the Warriors took 20 shots total.
- Mark Hillier found Merrimack's first goal of the season and the Warriors breakthrough midway through their first man advantage of the game with the only assist going to Filip Forsmark to make the score 2-1 at 6:52 of the second period.
- Merrimack's had two other powerplays in the period but were unable to tie the game on either of them as the score was 2-1 after 40 minutes.
- In the third, Merrimack completed a penalty kill early but the midway point of the period, St. Lawrence converted on a breakaway goal put the score at 3-1 in favor of the home team.
- The Warriors continued to push forward and even had a few opportunities with the net empty but they were unable to tie the game and the game ended as a 3-1 final score.
Notes & Numbers
- Ryan Leibold led the team in shots with five in his first ever game in a Merrimack uniform
- Otto Leppanen led the team in blocks with three.
- Mick Messner led the team at the face off dot, winning seven draws in twelve attempts.
- Hugo Ollas made 20 saves on 23 shots in the loss
Stats:
Power Plays: MC 1-4 | SLU 1-5
Shots on Goal: MC 6, SLU 13 | MC 8, SLU 7 | MC 8, SLU 3 | MC 22, SLU 23
Faceoffs: 25 MC | 29 SLU Blocks: 13 MC | 15 SLU
UP NEXT:
The Warriors stay in New York as they face the Clarkson Golden Knights on Saturday October 8th. Game Time is set for 7:00 p.m. and the game can be seen on ESPN Plus.
