Merrimack remains hot, Borgiel perfect in win over Colgate
NORTH ANDOVER — When Will Calverley lined up for a faceoff in the offensive zone with 10 seconds left in the second period, the Merrimack College Warriors were well in control of the game with a three-goal lead.
But one more goal wouldn’t hurt.
Calverley won the draw straight back to Jordan Seyfert, and the fifth-year senior stepped into the puck and blasted a slap shot past Carter Gylander. With the goal so late in the second period, it was the knockout blow for the Warriors in a convincing win.
“The puck was on edge and he lined it up and shot it,” Merrimack head coach Scott Borek said. “Watching the video, I can’t believe he made it through the legs. I don’t think their goalie every saw it. Jordan saw the puck on edge and he let it fly. We need that. It’s great for him to get that opportunity and to get that gal. It was big for our team. It allowed us to stretch it out an it gave us a chance to relax - which we did too much of at the beginning of the third period - but we got back to our game.”
Five different Warriors found the back of the net. Slava Demin, Seyfert, and Ottoville Leppanen all scored their first goals of the season while Mac Welsher and Ben Brar both scored for the second time this season.
Alex Jefferies finished with three points (all assists) and Demin (1g, 1a) also had a multi-point game.
Welsher put the Warriors on the board midway through the first period.
Matt Copponi forced a Colgate turnover at the Merrimack offensive blue line and chipped the puck over to Jefferies, who was on the wall at the top of the right circle. Jefferies held the puck and found Welsher charging to the net. Welsher got behind the defensemen and beat Colgate goalie Carter Gylander with a backhand shot to the glove side.
“We were able to get out in front but I didn’t think it was a 5-0 game,” said Borek. “They had some good chances. We got really good goaltending, just like we did on Tuesday. We have to clean up our own end and we have to clean up their transition game tomorrow because I think we were a little fortunate today.”
Zachary Borgiel made 21 saves to earn his second career shutout.
“Zach battled his way through the Clarkson game,” Borek said. “He did not look comfortable the whole night but he fought through and got rewarded. Then tonight he came back and made everything look easy. I don’t think it was easy, they had some really good chances, but he made it look easy and that’s a real positive.”
Demin gets on the board with two points
Transfer defenseman Slava Demin got on the board with his first goal as a Warrior Friday night and he also notched an assist. He was TMR’s No. 2 star of the game, adding a plus-4 and five shots on goal to his pair of points.
“Any time you can put the puck in the net it feels good,” he said. “But for us, we’re focused on just continuing to grow an play well defensively and if we do those little things well it’s going to lead to offense. That’s what you saw tonight. Hopefully we can continue to have success with it.”
Demin committed to Merrimack out of the transfer portal this past offseason after he spent one season at UMass. Demin also previously played at Denver, where he was a teammate of former Merrimack forwards Jake Durflinger and Steven Jandric.
“I also played Merrimack three times last year with UMass and they were all close games,” he said. “I liked the way this team played. I felt like I could come in and make an impact. I really love playing with this group.
“Being here in the summer for six weeks was huge. I lived with guys that I’m not living with now, so you really get to build relationships. You build a lot of trust and chemistry early on, which is huge and I think it’s helped us start so well. I’m really thankful we had that time. It’s paid off.”
Merrimack gets better on the dot
The Warriors split the faceoffs with Colgate, 28-28. The Warriors entered the game just over 45 percent on on draws this season and Colgate entered the night as one of the stronger teams nationally, having won almost 57 percent of its faceoffs.
“We had three grad transfers in the middle,” Borek said. “With Matty, he hasn’t taken faceoffs in over two years. So he’s getting back into it. The biggest difference tonight I think is we were just more experienced in the middle of the rink. Matty won some big ones for us, especially a couple in the defensive zone, so I think that was great for his confidence. But the difference tonight was maturity in the middle of the rink and I think we’re just getting better at it.”
Ed. Note — Portions of this story will appear in tomorrow’s edition of The Eagle Tribune
Merrimack 5, Colgate 0
at Lawler Arena
Colgate (1-4-0): 0-0-0--0
Merrimack (3-1-0): 1-3-1--5
First Period: 1. MC Mac Welsher 2 (Alex Jefferies, Matt Copponi), ev, 7:43.
Second Period: 2. MC Ben Brar 2 (Alex Jefferies, Slava Demin), ev, 6:12; 3. MC Slava Demin 1 (Tristan Crozier, Kevin Sadovski), ev, 8:03; 4. MC Jordan Seyfert 1 (Will Calverley), ev, 19:50.
Third Period: 5. MC Ottoville Leppanen 1 (Ivan Zivlak, Alex Jefferies), ev, 9:02
Shots: MC 18-12-8--38 ; CU 8-6-7--21
Saves: MC Borgiel (60:00) 8-6-7--21 8; CU Gylander (60:00) 17-9-7--33
Power Play: MC 0 for 4; CU 0 for 2
Penalties: MC 2-4:00; CU 4-8:00
Faceoffs: 28-28
Attendance: 2,072 (2,549)