Second period woes doom Merrimack in 5-3 loss at Northeastern

Photo: Jim Pierce

BOSTON — The 2023-24 season is starting to slip through the fingers of the Merrimack College Warriors.

Believe it or not, the season is in the home stretch. After last night's 5-3 loss at Northeastern, there are only 10 games left in the regular season. Merrimack sits well outside the NCAA Tournament picture, ranked 27th in the Pairwise, and the Warriors are tied with Northeastern for ninth place in Hockey East. 

They're now four points behind UNH and Northeastern for the final home-ice spot in the first round of the Hockey East playoffs, and both UVM and UNH have games in hand. 

Friday's loss at Matthews Arena was their fourth loss in five games after they started the second half 3-0. 

"We gave it away," said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. "We tried to be a little too fancy, and that created their second goal. We get a penalty on the [goal] there, which was a pretty tough call, actually, because it happened the same time the puck was going into the net. That stretched us out a little bit. We got beat physically to create the fourth goal. It's just tough to come back.

"We have to be better without the puck. We just have to be better without the puck."

The game was tied 1-1 at the end of the second period, but Northeastern scored four unanswered goals, including three goals in the first seven minutes of the second period, to take a 5-1 lead. The Warriors added two goals in the third.

The issues away from the puck have become evident in Merrimack's defensive numbers. The Warriors have allowed a whopping 17 goals in their last three games and have allowed three goals or more in five out of their last six. 

"We made it easy for them," Borek said. "We're disappointed in the results. We have to play our brand of hockey instead of trying to play their brand, because they're very good at that. We're not. But we need to be better tomorrow. I think we will be, and I'm sure they will be better tomorrow, too."

Borek pulled goaltender Zachary Borgiel in the third period after Northeastern's fifth goal. Although he alluded to Hugo Ollas starting in the rematch on Saturday, he was quick to pull the blame off of his senior goaltender (who has been outstanding in some recent matchups).

"That was more about helping Zach," Borek said. "We didn't give him much of a chance tonight. That's all we have to do is give our goalies a chance and they'll deliver. We didn't even give him a chance tonight. The good news is that Hugo got in there and got to track some pucks and maybe that helps get him ready, but we didn't help Zach at all tonight. That was disappointing." 

Northeastern bounced back after a late 2-1 loss to UMass last Saturday. The Huskies have three wins in the second half (3-4-1) after going 5-8-1 in the first half.

"We needed to sustain our offensive-zone forecheck tonight," said Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe. "We talk about hunting all the time, but we did a good job staying on the puck."

NOTES: The Warriors went 22-30 on faceoffs. Copponi led the team, going 10-9 on draws. … Ty Daneault scored his ninth goal of the season. That’s the most by a Merrimack freshman since Chase Gresock (2018-19) and Brett Seney (2014-15). The record in the “modern-era” is 16 from Stephane Da Costa in 2009-10. Other top rookie goal scorers since 2000 include Jace Hennig (2014-15) and Mike Collins (2010-11), who both had 14 goals their freshman season. Brent Gough had 12 goals (2002-03) and Anthony Aquino had 15 goals (1999-00).

Daneault is on pace to finish tied for third in this category with Collins, which would only leave him behind Da Costa and Aquino.

Top Freshman Goal Scorers Since 2000
Player              Year          Goals
Stephane Da Costa   2009-10       16 (0.47 per GP)
Antony Aquino       1999-00       15 (0.42 per GP)
Mike Collins        2010-11       14 (0.39 per GP)
Jace Hennig         2014-15       14 (0.38 per GP)
Brent Gough         2002-03       12 (0.33 per GP)
Brett Seney         2014-15       11 (0.32 per GP)
Chase Gresock       2008-09       11 (0.32 per GP)
Rob Ricci           2005-06       10 (0.29 per GP)
Brandon Brodhag     2009-10       10 (0.29 per GP)
Ty Daneault         2023-24       9  (0.39 per GP)

NEXT: The Warriors will host the Huskies on Saturday night at Lawler Arena. The game will be part of Alumni Weekend, which will also include a ceremony to honor Richard Pion and Ron Anderson on their inductions into the Merrimack Hall of Fame.