Merrimack's early leads slips away in loss to No. 2 BC

NORTH ANDOVER — Despite one of its best first-period starts of the season, Merrimack watched a two-goal lead slip away on Friday night in a 6-4 loss to No. 2 Boston College.

The Warriors led the Eagles 2-0 in the first period and opened the game outshooting the Eagles 13-3. 

Penalties were part of Merrimack's undoing. The Eagles boast the nation's No. 3 power play, and the Warriors gave that unit seven chances (BC scored twice). 

"We have to stay out of the box," Borek said. "Even if they don't score, they're good enough that they create so much momentum in their zone that they're going to be there for the next shift even after the power play. We just have to stay out of the penalty box. We can't play with so much emotion, and that was on me. I preached it, but then I didn't follow my own preaching, and I think I led a team down a bad path, and I'm disappointed in myself for that. But we have to be better, and I have to be better."

The Warriors dominated the opening seven minutes until matching penalties to Lukas Gustafsson and Merrimack's Zach Bookman put the teams 4-on-opened up the ice, and even though BC didn't score, it gave the Eagles space to operate with their skill and it provided momentum.

"If you measured our emotional level at that time, which is how we got to the 4-on-4, we just can't play like that," Borek said. "That team is too strong. You can't charge at them because if you charge at them, they're good enough to make a move, and you lose."

Ethan Bono and Ivan Zivlak (first NCAA goal) scored for the Warriors in the first period, but the Eagles responded with five unanswered goals in the second and third periods combined to take a 5-2 lead. 

Mark Hillier and Matt Copponi scored in the third to cut Merrimack's deficit to 5-4, but another penalty put the Eagles on the power play with 2:37 left in the game.

The Warriors called their timeout with 17.2 seconds left and pulled goaltender Zachary Borgiel for an extra attacker. But BC gained possession and Cutter Gauthier finished off a hat trick with an empty-net goal.

"It was a disappointing game, Borek said. "We knew who we were playing. We knew how skilled they were, and we can't give them that many opportunities on the power play. They gained a lot of momentum off of that. Coaches never liked to calls, I'm sure most of it is on me, but I just I just felt we gave them power plays and allowed them to gain zone time. They took that zone time and ended up winning the hockey game."

Borodayenko moves into Jefferies' spot

With Alex Jefferies on the shelf for at least the next few weeks, Nikita Borodayenko took his spot alongside Matt Copponi and Filip Forsmark.

Borodayenko was playing opposite his junior coach in the biggest spot of his young NCAA career. BC head coach Greg Brown coached Borodayenko with the Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL) two years ago. He finished the game with a pair of shots.

"He did a good job," Borek said. "He had a couple of scoring chances. That's a big pace for him to play. Those guys play at a high pace, but he had two or three scoring chances and made a couple of plays, one at the net front with a tip that I'm not sure how many guys could do that. He acclimated himself pretty well."

NOTES: The Warriors won the faceoff battle 36-26. ... Copponi was 12-5 on faceoffs, and Chase Stevenson was 12-8. ... Merrimack wore their alternate gold jerseys. ... Zachary Borgiel made 35 saves. 

NEXT: Merrimack will travel to BC on Sunday for a 1 p.m. faceoff. The game will be televised on NESN. 

#2 Boston College 6, Merrimack 4
at Lawler Arena
Boston College (15-4-1-0):      0-3-3--6
Merrimack College (10-9-1-2):   2-0-2--4
First Period:
Scoring —- 1. MC Ethan Bono 4 (Luke Weilandt) ev 1:59; 2. MC Ivan Zivlak 1 (Ty Daneault, Mark Hillier), ev, 18:49. Penalties -- MC 4-8; BC 3-6.
Second Period:
Scoring -- 3. BC Cutter Gauthier 15 (Aram Minnetian, Aidan Hreschuk), ev, 3:00; 4. BC Andre Gasseau 6 (Lukas Gustafsson, Oskar Jellvik) ev, 17:23; 5. BC Cutter Gauthier 16 (Gabe Perreault), pp, 19:15. Penalties - MC 2-4; BC 1-2.
Third Period:
Scoring -- 6. BC Will Smith 12 (Lukas Gustafsson, Ryan Leonard), ev, 2:32; 7. BC Ryan Leonard 12 (Will Smith, Gabe Perreault), pp, 12:39; 8. MC Mark Hillier 5 (Michael Citara, Matt Copponi), pp, 13:08; 9. MC Matt Copponi 7 (Zach Bookman), ev, 16:28; 10. BC Cutter Gauthier 17 (Andre Gasseau, Aidan Hreschuk), en, 19:53. Penalties -- MC 5-10, BC 3-6.
Shots: MC 14-14-7--35; BC 12-10-19--41
Saves: MC Borgiel (59:27) 35/40; BC Fowler (60:00) 31/35
Power Play: MC 1 for 3; BC 2 for 7
Attendance: 2,674 (2,549)