Lowell better in the critical moments against Merrimack

Merrimack allows six goals, including four 5-on-5 goals in loss to River Hawks

NORTH ANDOVER — Merrimack entered Saturday night as one of the best defensive teams in the country through October. But UMass Lowell broke the Warriors D-zone open in a 6-3 win at Lawler Arena.

The River Hawks scored four 5-on-5 goals in the win.

“We lost a lot of stick fights,” Merrimack coach Scott Borek said. “I thought we made some steps, I thought we played well physically for large portions of the game, but the most critical moments were theirs, and we have to be better in those moments.”

The Warriors opened the scoring in the first period when Michael Emerson beat Henry Welsch for his first collegiate goal. However, the River Hawks took over from there. Five minutes later, Dillan Bentley tied the game, and freshman Chris Delaney gave the River Hawks a lead a few minutes later.

“We have to be quicker on the puck,” Borek said. “[Lowell] plays a very mature game. We need to grow up fast, and have to work on that, but we’ll get there.”

The Warriors did finally get their power play moving in the right direction. Trevor Griebel scored on a wrist shot from the left point and Caelan Fitzpatrick scored his first collegiate goal on a power-play one-timer in the second period.

“They executed it very well,” Borek said. “It was good to get those and get the monkey off our back. That was a positive.”

Ryan Keyes stopped 15 of 19 shots before he gave way to Max Lundgren, who stopped 12 of the 13 shots he faced.

“I don't blame Ryan,” Borek said. “I told him I felt our energy was getting low. There was a chance they would pull away, and we needed to change that energy. Sometimes just changing the goalie changes the energy.”

The Warriors (1-3-1) will travel to Maine next week for a two-game series. UMass Lowell (4-1-0) will play at Holy Cross on Friday.