Merrimack racks up most PIMs in 11 years in "embarrassing" loss to BU

NORTH ANDOVER — At one point in the second period of Merrimack’s 4-1 loss to Boston University on Friday, there were so many Warriors crammed into the penalty box that the staff working the box had to shuffle players around just to get the door closed.

Merrimack was assessed three major penalties, two 10-minute misconducts, and two game misconducts on Friday night, compiling the most penalty minutes by a Merrimack team in over 11 years.

"I'm sorry for the way we played," Scott Borek said. "It was embarrassing.”

"We were undisciplined," said Borek. "We talked about it going into the series, we need to play 5-on-5. We played emotional. We talked about playing with emotion but not playing emotionally. We played emotionally.”

After a penalty-free first period — believe it or not — Merrimack’s Matt Copponi was given a boarding major and game misconduct after hitting BU defenseman Cade Webber from behind as he attempted to retrieve a puck in the defensive zone.

"Those are the hits that we're trying to take out of the league," said BU coach Jay Pandolfo. "He's a defenseless defenseman. It was a point of emphasis to start the season. He can't defend himself from that hit. It was very dangerous. ... I didn't like some of the hits tonight, so, there's not much more to add than that."

Later in the period Filip Forsmark was assessed a major for contact to the head, and Frank Djurasevic and Devlin O’Brien were both given 10-minute misconducts for scrapping with Cade Webber and Dylan Peterson, who also received 10-minute misconducts.

Then, in the third period, about seven minutes after Ethan Bono cut the BU lead to 3-1, David Sacco slashed Macklin Celebrini in the neutral zone and was given a major and misconduct.

“We make it 3-1, and then we take another major just as we're getting back into the game,” Borek said. “Just gross."

The final determinations will be made on Saturday, but Borek said the Warriors can expect lineup changes.

"Oh yeah [you’ll lineup changes]. That was embarrassing,” he said. “We knew going into the game we'd have to play without the puck a lot because they possess it. I haven't seen a team play like that in my six years. There's nothing positive that comes from this game. Nothing positive happened."

The last time Merrimack had more than 67 penalty minutes in a game was March 10, 2012 in a playoff game at Maine (98 PIMs).

NOTES: Merrimack women's basketball had a game against UC Riverside inside Lawler Arena on Friday morning (11 am). It was the first time the college has hosted basketball and hockey inside Lawler Arena in the same day. Men's basketball hosts Lowell at Lawler on Saturday night. … Copponi’s point streak was snapped at 12 games. … Mac Welsher moved to center after Copponi was ejected.

NEXT: The Warriors will travel to BU tonight to complete the home-and-home series. The puck drop is set for 6 p.m.

Boston University 4, Merrimack 1
at Lawler Arena
Boston University (10-3-1-1):    1-2-1—4
Merrimack College (6-5-1-2):     0-0-1—1
First Period: 1. BU Doug Grimes 2 (Sam Stevens, Lane Hutson), ev, 9:52.
Second Period: 2. BU Shane Lachance 4 (Ryan Greene, Quinn Hutson), pp, 1:36; 3. BU Shane Lachance 5 (Lane Hutson, Quinn Hutson), pp, 12:50.
Third Period: 4. MC Ethan Bono 1 (Mark Gallant, Ty Daneault), ev, 4:52; 5. BU Macklin Celebrini 10 (Lane Hutson, Ryan Greene), pp, 16:33.
Shots: MC 9-5-9—23; BU 9-18-11—38
Power Play: MC 0 for 2; BU 3 for 7
Penalties: MC 13-67; BU 10-36
Attendance: 2,734