Four unanswered goals from UMass were the difference on Friday night at the Mullins Center. The Minutemen handed Merrimack a 4-2 road loss.
The Warriors scored first on the power play when David Sacco tipped a point shot from Zach Bookman. The Warriors took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, but the Minutemen scored two goals within one minute in the middle of the second period to take the lead.
“I liked our start, and we obviously for the first goal, which was huge,” said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. “We just got away from our game in the second period. In the first and third periods, I thought we made simple plays and we had momentum. The second period, we got away from that, turned over way too many pucks, and made it easy for [UMass].”
The Warriors outshot UMass 19-12 in the first and third periods but were outshot 15-6 in the second.
In the third period, the Warriors also had to kill a high-sticking major called on Vann Yuhas. Trailing 3-2, Kenny Connors scored with the goalie pulled on the delayed call. The Warriors killed the penalty, and Michael Emerson scored at the 19:35 mark.
Merrimack travels to UMass Lowell on Saturday night. The River Hawks fell to BC, 4-0, on Friday night.
“We need to get back to campus [Friday night], rest and recover, because we know how hard Lowell plays and that’s a big test,” Borek said. “The great thing is our locker room is in a great place. Our guys know our identity, and we know we can compete with anyone when we play to our identity.”
Merrimack (10-14-1): 1-0-1--2 UMass (14-10-2): 0-2-2--4 First Period: 1. MC David Sacco 8 (Zach Bookman, Michael Emerson), PP, 10:01. Second Period: 2. UMA Kenny Connors 4 (Ryan Lautenbach, Michael Cameron), ev, 8:53; 3. Lucas Mercuri 9 (Cole O’Hara, Lucas Olvestad), ev, 9:57. Third Period: 4. UMA Jack Musa 10 (Cole O’Hara, Lucas Mercuri), ev, 6:13; 5. UMA Kenny Connors 5 (Lucas Olvestad, James Duerr), EA, 13:39; 6. MC Michael Emerson 5 (Seamus Powell), ev, 19:35. Shots: Merrimack 7-6-12--25; UMass 7-15-5--27 Saves: MC Wallstrom (59:44) 23/27; UMA Hrabal (59:56) 23/25 Power Play: Merrimack 1-3; UMass 0-3 Penalties-PIM: Merrimack 4-19; UMass 4-8 Faceoffs: 26-26 Attendance: 5,199