BC upends Merrimack and salvages a weekend split
NORTH ANDOVER — Merrimack knew Boston College would come back on Saturday night with a big push after the Warriors beat the Eagles 5-2 on Friday night.
They were right.
BC salvaged a split of the weekend series with a 4-1 win over the Warriors Saturday night at Lawler Arena. The Eagles put up 41 shots on goal.
Ryan Leonard started the scoring at the 5:33 mark of the second period, blasting a one-timer from the left circle on a power play to give the Eagles a lead. BC tacked on two late goals in the second period to take a three-goal lead after two.
Jake Sondreal beat Max Lundgren (37 saves) to the short side and Brady Berard used a Merrimack defender as a screen to score his second goal of the weekend.
Sondreal was ejected in the third period for head contact on a crosscheck to Antonio Venuto. On the power play, Nick Pierre capitalized for his first collegiate goal on a one-timer feed from Seamus Powell.
Teddy Stiga added an empty-netter.
Storylines
BC’s push was not unexpected
Merrimack head coach Scott Borek wrapped up his Friday press conference with what turned out to be prophetic words.
“We better be ready [Saturday], because we know they’re coming back at us strong,” he said.
BC came back charging from the start on Saturday. Less than 10 minutes into the game, the Eagles had seven shots on goal, matching their Friday shot total by the midpoint of the second period.
“BC pushed the pace,” Borek said. “[Friday] night, they really didn’t. We got involved in too much of a transition game with them, which you can’t do and we didn’t do that on Friday. I’d say, on Friday night we played the game we wanted to, and tonight they were able to play the game they wanted to play. Both teams got a win on the weekend, and both teams played more to their identity in their wins.”
The Warriors showed fight in the third, scoring early on the major power play, but they couldn’t must anything else against Jacob Fowler.
“I liked our third period,” Borek said. “I thought we settled down in the third and began to play the type of game that can make us successful. We did more of that in the third, which at least gave us the opportunity to get back in it.”
Pierre rewarded with his first NCAA goal
Borek couldn’t believe it when he heard the announcement over the arena PA system that Nick Pierre’s goal in the third period was his first collegiate goal.
The freshman has been one of Merrimack’s best forwards over the last month. Since Dec. 6 against Alaska Anchorage, Pierre now has seven points (1g-6a) in his last seven games.
“It feels like he scored 10,” Borek said. “He scores in practice all the time. He has a really good shot, and you see how hard he plays. All three guys on his line play hard.”
Pierre has been playing with Michael Emerson and Caden Cranston.
“I think this weekend made us better in a lot of ways, and you saw it a lot with their line,” Borek said. “I know it didn’t look that way at periods tonight, but I think we got better because BC really pushed our game, and I’m excited about that.”
Warriors score on the power play again
Merrimack scored a power-play goal in both games this weekend. If for no other reason, that’s notable because BC entered the weekend with a nearly perfect penalty kill, only allowing one power-play goal on the season.
“[Friday night] I liked our power play a lot,” Borek said. “I really liked our breakout. Tonight, I didn’t like it as much but we had some good chances and did what we had to do. We had looks and got the one goal. It’s growth, and our entire game is growing with a younger team. That includes the power play.
The Warriors power play struggled at the start of the season, but they have scored a power-play goal in five straight games dating back to the Northeastern game on Dec. 14, going 5 for 13 (38.4%) over that stretch.
Goalies split the weekend
The Warriors opted to go with Max Lundgren on Saturday night after Nils Wallstrom got the start in Friday’s win. Borek was pleased with the way both goalies played this weekend.
“Nils was awesome on Friday, and I liked the way Max played tonight,” he said. “I know he’s disappointed we lost the game, but Max gave us a chance to win, and that’s all we ask from our goalies. Both of those guys should exit the weekend feeling good about where their game is at, because both guys played well.”
Box Score
Reactions
— I’ll have more in a bigger picture “weekend takeaways” column later, but overall, I liked the way the Warriors played this weekend. Obviously, Friday night was a great start to the weekend, but even in this game on Saturday, there were stretches where the Warriors did things that gave them a chance to be successful.
They survived the first period, which was key. They mostly shut down BC’s vaunted top line (at least 5v5—Ryan Leonard had a power-play goal). That line—particularly Leonard—transitioned more with speed on Saturday than they did on Friday, but inside the offensive zone, the Warriors kept that line mostly pushed outside the dots and the high-danger areas.
You all remember the old saying… " You cannot stop them; you can only hope to contain them.”
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