Merrimack beats UMass in front of another sold out Lawler Arena

Photo: Merrimack Athletics

Merrimack never trailed and survived a late extra-attacker goal by UMass to hang on for a 3-2 win over the Minutemen on Friday night in front of another sold out Lawler Arena.

“It was a hard-fought game,” said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. “We knew it would be. They’re very good, and they played very hard. They’re well-coached. We got through the game and played the way we had to have success, but that’s a [UMass] team that makes us better every time we play them.”

Nick Pierre opened the scoring for Merrimack in the second period after a scoreless opening frame.

“Nick, Michael Emerson, and Caden Cranston. That line has become dangerous,” Borek said. “They all add something different. Nick plays with his legs really well. They share the puck well. Even without the puck, they played well. Caden and Nick were killing penalties. That was huge for us. Young players getting those opportunities and having success was good.”

Four minutes later, UMass tied the game again, thanks to Aydar Suniev's 14th goal.

Tyler Young put the Warriors ahead early in the third period, and Ty Daneault scored what turned out to be a critical power-play goal with 1:51 left in the game because UMass added an extra-attacker goal from Daniel Jencko with 47 seconds left. But the Warriors held on for the win.

The Warriors blocked 17 UMass shots, and the shots on goal were an even 33-33. Nils Wallstrom made 31 saves for his second straight win.

“Every guy on the team tonight fought hard,” he said. “We blocked a ton of shots. That’s huge. Good coverage in the zones. We played as a team.”

The series shifts to the Mullins Center on Saturday night. The Warriors improved to No. 23 in the Pairwise and moved into a tie for fifth in the Hockey East standings.

The Warriors are 6-2 in their last eight games and improved to 9-11-1 on the season. UMass is now 10-10-1.