DURHAM, N.H. - Freshman defenseman Damien Carfagna (Wood-Ridge, N.J.) scored the overtime game winner as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated No. 15 Merrimack, 3-2, on Friday evening at the Whittemore Center.
Senior forward and captain Chase Stevenson (West Kelowna, British Columbia) posted two assists for two points, while junior defenseman Nikolai Jenson (Cold Spring, Minn.) and freshman forward Stiven Sardarian (Saint Petersburg, Russia) each found the back of the net.
With the win, the Wildcats improve to 8-18-1 (3-13-1 Hockey East), while the Warriors fall to 16-11-1 (11-7-1 Hockey East).
UP NEXT:
- The Wildcats return to action on Saturday, Feb. 4 at 6 pm at the Tsongas Center when they play at No. 16 UMass Lowell on ESPN+.
- The Wildcats will return to the Whittemore Center on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 10-11 versus UConn. The game on Friday is Tropical Night at 7 p.m. with a lei giveaway, while the contest on Saturday is at 4 p.m. presented by Eversource.
- Go to UNHWildcats.com/Tickets or call the ticket office at (603) 862-4000 to catch the most exciting family entertainment in New Hampshire.
Score: New Hampshire 3, #15 Merrimack 2 (OT)
Records: UNH 8-18-1 (3-13-1 Hockey East), MC 16-11-1 (11-7-0 Hockey East).
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center)
Date: Friday, February 3, 2023
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Attendance: 3,536
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- At 4:45 of the first period, Jenson opened the scoring with his first goal of the season, shooting a wrist shot off a rebound from the high slot to the top right corner of the net. The goal was assisted by senior forward Joe Hankinson (Hopkins, Minn.) and junior forward Cam Gendron (Hampstead, N.H.).
- Only minutes later at 7:55, Sardarian extended the Wildcat lead to 2-0 by scoring his first career goal. The goal was assisted by Stevenson who set up the two-on-one opportunity with a saucer pass entering the Warriors' zone to freshman forward Kristaps Skrastins (Grobina, Latvia) who then completed the pass across the crease to Sardarian.
- With 12.6 seconds remaining in the second period, Merrimack found the back of the net and cut the deficit in half with Alex Jefferies' wrist shot goal from the left side circle, coming one second after their power play expired. UNH led 2-1 after two periods.
- Merrimack equalized the score at 2-2 after Filip Forsmark's power play goal out front from the right side of the net at 8:43 of the third period.
- Then 1:19 minutes into overtime, Carfagna scored the game winner to give the Wildcats the win and an extra point in the Hockey East standings with a wrist shot that went over the shoulder of Merrimack goalie Zachary Borgiel and into the upper left side of the net, assisted by Stevenson, his second point of the night.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Senior goalie David Fessenden (Parker, Colo.) made 29 saves, while Borgiel posted 17 for the Warriors.
- Merrimack outshot UNH, 31-20.
- The Wildcats went 0-2 on the power play, while the Warriors went 1-4.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- This was Stevenson's fourth multi-point game of his career.
- Carfagna's scored his first career game-winning goal.
- The goal by Sardarian was the first of his collegiate goal.
- UNH is now 3-3-1 this season in overtime.
- The Wildcats are 79-31-13 all-time versus Merrimack with a 31-9-4 record at the Whittemore Center versus the Warriors.
