Another slow start dooms Warriors in loss to BU in Belfast
Hampered by another slow start, the Merrimack men’s hockey team fell to Boston University 6-2 in the opening game of the Friendship Four on Friday afternoon.
BU took a 3-0 lead in the first period, including two goals scored 1:06 apart at the 7:10 and 8:16 mark.
“Today wasn’t our day,” said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. “It was frustrating. There were things that were 50-50 that could have gone both ways, and all of them went in the wrong direction. We have to play through that. We had a slow start again, and that’s on us. We need to play better in the first 10 minutes, and we need to get more people playing the right way.”
The Warriors struggled in the first period to adjust to Belfast’s larger ice surface. According to online listings, the ice is slightly smaller than Olympic size but significantly wider than NHL size.
“We talked about it before the game and during the week, particularly how we had to defend it in the neutral zone,” Borek said. “That put us on our heels in the first, which contributed to how they came at us. In the second and third period we made an adjustment, played it more aggressive, and then you saw us get on our toes. That’s when the game evened out.”
The Warriors responded in the second period. Antonio Venuto scored on the power play and Merrimack cut BU’s lead to 3-2 early in the third when David Sacco scored his third goal of the season.
Quinn Hutson gave BU an insurance goal at the 8:15 mark of the third period on a play reviewed for a potential high stick. The Terriers added a late empty-net goal and a power-play goal.
The Warriors outshot the Terriers 33-29.
Merrimack will close out the Friendship Four tomorrow against either Harvard or Notre Dame.
