BC swarms Merrimack early and completes weekend sweep with a 6-2 win

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College raced out to a three-goal lead just eight minutes into Sunday's game and never looked back en route to a 6-2 win over Merrimack, completing the weekend sweep.

"Tough way to spend a Sunday," said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. "I didn't like anything about our team today. I didn't like our coaching. There was nothing to like."

The Eagles responded after a difficult start to Friday's game, which they won 6-4 despite falling behind 2-0 to the Warriors in the first period.

"We knew after (Friday) night and how chippy it got that they would come hard and we had to match it," said BC forward Jack Malone. "We had to establish our forecheck, and try to score the first punch as opposed to the other way around."

"We talked a lot about having a better start," said BC coach Greg Brown. "We really let them dictate the play in the first period on Friday. We talked a lot about it. We had better sharpness in the first today. That set a tone."

The Warriors again got into penalty trouble. Merrimack was assessed six of the first nine penalties in the game, all coming within the first 31 minutes.

"We deserved some of them," Borek said. "Obviously, I don't think we deserved all of them, but the coach never does. But that had nothing to do with the game today. They killed us. That had zero to do with it. We were humbled."

The Warriors are left looking for answers ahead of another Hockey East series against Northeastern on tap for next week.

After starting the second half 3-0 in non-league games, the Warriors are 1-3 in their last four games, all Hockey East contests. 

"We have to regroup," Borek said. "It's not lost on me that we're playing one of the best teams in the country, but at the same time, our compete level, in this league, needs to be elite or higher. We're a better team than that. We're better than how we played today. That's the hard thing. We were outcoached today and outplayed. That's what happens between games. They made some adjustments, and we did too, but we weren't as good at what we wanted to do. That's on me, it's on our staff, and it's on the players. It's on everyone. The players play, but we were outcoached."

Forsmark scores a pair

Filip Forsmark scored both goals for the Warriors. That's a positive sign, given that leading goal scorer Alex Jefferies is on the shelf with an injury.

Forsmark scored in the second period, bouncing a puck off the back of BC goaltender Jacob Fowler. He followed that up with a power-play goal in the third period off a feed from Matt Copponi. 

"We need to get something going right now," Borek said. "He's a really good player. He has found some chemistry with Matt, which is good to see. That's coming at a good time because we need someone to step up. Both guys are smart, explosive players."

NOTES: Merrimack's penalty kill held the Eagles to 0 for 8 on the power play. ... Chase Stevenson led the Warriors with four shots on goal. Copponi led the team with seven shot attempts. ... Aidan Hreschuk had a three-point night for the Eagles (1g-2a). 

NEXT: The Warriors will travel to Northeastern on Friday night. Merrimack will host the Huskies next Saturday on Alumni Day. The annual alumni game will take place earlier that afternoon, and the program will honor former head coach Ron Anderson and former forward Richard Pion for their induction into the Merrimack Hall of Fame during Saturday night's home game against the Huskies.