Merrimack suffers devastating loss at Yale
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Friday’s 5-2 loss at Yale felt like a rock-bottom moment for the Warriors.
Two Yale players scored their first goal of the year, and the Bulldogs, who averaged just 1.8 goals per game entering the contest, had scored just two goals (total) in their last four games.
But that didn’t stop them from putting up four (plus a 195-foot empty-netter) on the Warriors.
Yale entered the game as one of the worst teams, statistically, in the nation, ranked No. 62 in the Pairwise.
But Merrimack coach Scott Borek knew better than to read the rankings. The Warriors were in a similar spot against Yale last season at home and tied the Bulldogs, 3-3.
“The work extremely hard,” Borek said. “We knew that. We knew that coming into the game.”
The Warriors fell behind 2-0, tied the game 2-2 in the third period, and then Yale scored three straight in the final 10 minutes.
“We’re not in a great place right now,” Borek said. “We have to work through it. There’s no option. But our grind has to be better, and that includes myself. We all have to be accountable for this, including me. It starts with me.”
The Warriors showed promise entering the season, but they’re just 2-5-1 in their last eight games. Now, they have a three-week break for the end of the first semester. For a team that needs a reset, the break comes at a good time.
Merrimack dropped to No. 30 in the Pairwise after the game.
“We have a lot of people playing okay right now, but no one is playing great,” Borek said. “And like I said, I’m the guy behind the bench. I include myself in that. We have to be better. We have to be. I have to do a better job. We have to be more consistent, we just aren’t a consistent group right now. That’s disappointing, and that’s on me.”
After the Bulldogs scored the first two goals, Christian Felton netted a pair to tie the game. He scored in the second period after Ben Brar fought through traffic to get the puck to Filip Forsmark, who then squeezed the puck to Felton for a tap-in at the far post.
Felton roofed a goal in the third period to tie the game.
“He puts a lot on his shoulders,” Borek said. “He’s an impactful player on every shift, whether he has the puck or not. Tonight, he tried to throw the team on his back.”
It felt like the Warriors were back in business at that point. But then a turnover in front of the Merrimack net led to Ian Carpentier’s game-winning goal just six minutes later.
It’s the second game in a row the Warriors fell behind early, got back into the game, but couldn’t close it out.
“That goal took us out of the game,” Borek said. “We were playing our best at that point. But, when you’re not playing the right way all the time, and you aren’t consistent, good things don’t happen to you. We didn’t deserve to win. We need to find a way to be better. I need to find a way to prepare our players better. From top to bottom, we have to be better.”
NOTES: Merrimack out-attempted Yale 52-45, including 24-16 in the third period. … Yale matched its season high in goals. They scored five goals in a 5-0 win over St. Lawrence.
NEXT: The Warriors are off until Dec. 29 when they return for the second semester at Brown.
Yale 5, Merrimack 2
at Ingalls Rink
Merrimack (6-7-1-2): 0-1-1—2
Yale (3-7-0-1): 1-1-3—5
First Period:
1. YL Henry Wagner 1 (Ryan Conroy, Dylan Herzog), ev, 8:33
Second Period:
2. Kalen Szeto 1 (Elan Bar-Lev-Wise, Ryan Conroy), ev, 6:45.
3. MC Christian Felton 2 (Filip Forsmark, Ben Brar), ev, 17:41.
Third Period:
4. MC Christian Felton 3 (Nikita Borodayenko, Devlin O’Brien), ev, 9:44.
5. YL Ian Carpentier 2 (unassisted), ev, 15:15
6. YL Briggs Gammill 4 (Niklas Allain, David Chen), ev, 17:08.
7. YL Briggs Gammill 5 (unassisted), en/sh, 19:23.
Shots: MC 7-11-10—28; YL 11-9-11—30
Saves: MC Ollas 25/29; YL Reid 26/28
Power Play: MC 0 for 1; YL 0 for 1
Penalties: MC 1-2; YL 1-2
Attendance: 1,116