NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. - No. 1 Boston College men's hockey came from behind for a 5-3 win over Merrimack at Lawler Arena on Saturday night. The Eagles, who claimed the Hockey East Regular Season Championship last week, head toward the postseason with an overall record of 28-5-1 and 20-3-1 Hockey East mark.
Senior Colby Ambrosio (Welland, Ont.) came through with the game-winning goal in the third period. He took a stretch pass from graduate defenseman Jacob Bengtsson (Stockholm, Sweden), skated up the left side and sniped a wrister into the back of the net. It marked just the second goal of the season for Ambrosio, who has 28 career goals, and first since Nov. 26.
After a first period with no goals or penalties, BC came out and dominated the early portion of the second with several scoring chances, but it was the Warriors that found the back of the net. Frank Djurasevic broke the scoreless-tie 8:43 into the frame and Devlin O'Brien doubled the Merrimack lead at 10:54.
Five minutes later, the Warriors went on the power play, but it was the Eagles offense that went on the attack. BC scored twice, shorthanded, beginning with a goal from graduate Jamie Armstrong (Warwick, R.I.), assisted by junior Mike Posma (Pomona, N.Y.) to complete a two-on-one. The game-tying goal came off a wrist shot from freshman Will Smith (Lexington, Mass.). Smith kept a toe on the blue line as he awaited a bouncing puck before taking it one-on-two and firing a shot into the back of the net from the left circle.
Freshman goaltender Jan Korec (Bratislava, Slovakia) made his second start of the season. He made back-to-back saves a minute into the third period and on a third chance in a four-second window, defenseman Liam Dennison's slapshot went past for the Warriors' go-ahead score.
BC got an opportunity to tie the game with a power play and two quick shots by Smith, but 14 seconds into the man-advantage an Eagle went to the box. Skating four-on-four, Boston College was still able to find the equalizer as senior defenseman and captain Eamon Powell (Marcellus, N.Y.) lit the lamp. Smith brought the puck up the left side and fed the slot to a streaking Powell, who skated unaccounted for up the middle and an open-wrist shot to beat MC goalie Hugo Ollas on his stick side.
The scoring continued for both sides after Ambrosio's third-period goal. Sophomore Cutter Gauthier (Scottsdale, Ariz.) netted his NCAA-leading 32nd goal of the season and Armstrong added his second of the night.
SCORING
2nd 8:43 MC Frank Djurasevic (Ty Daneault)
2nd 10:54 MC Devlin O'Brien (Brady Hunter, Zach Bookman)
2nd 15:54 BC Jamie Armstrong (Mike Posma) - SH
2nd 17:00 BC Will Smith (Lukas Gustafsson, Eamon Powell) - SH
3rd 1:06 MC Liam Dennison
3rd 4:48 BC Eamon Powell (Smith)
3rd 7:56 BC Colby Ambrosio (Jacob Bengtsson, Gustafsson)
3rd 12:19 BC Cutter Gauthier (Smith, Oskar Jellvik)
3rd 19:29 BC Armstrong (Andre Gasseau)
3rd 19:55 MC Luke Weilandt
GAME NOTES
- BC has won 13 games in a row in Hockey East play; the longest streak by a Hockey East team since the Eagles' 12-game win streak in 2012-13.
- BC scored two shorthanded goals for the second time this season; having previously done so against Vermont (2/24/24).
- Korec made 17 saves in his second career win.
- Powell extended his career-best point streak to 12 games.
- Smith scored his 18th goal of the season and pushed his point total to 57 with two assists.
UP NEXT
Top-seeded Boston College hosts a home quarterfinal game in the Hockey East Tournament on Saturday, March 16. Opponent and time will be announced after Wednesday's opening round games. The No. 1 Eagles will face the lowest remaining team in the field.
