Three-goal start helps the Warriors roll to an important Hockey East win over Northeastern
Merrimack 4, Northeastern 1
The Warriors survived a flurry of Northeastern chances in the opening minutes on Thursday night, then rattled off three straight goals en route to a 4-1 win over the Huskies.
After Northeastern registered seven of the game’s first nine shots, the Warriors settled into the game. Caden Cranston scored on the power play, while Nathan King and Parker Lalonde added goals. Caelan Fitzpatrick rounded out the scoring with a third-period tally.
“That’s a big win for our group,” said Fitzpatrick, who scored his fifth goal of the season. “Everything is starting to feel more like the playoffs at this time of year.”
Fitzpatrick struck in the third period after tipping a puck past a Northeastern defender and racing in alone on Lawton Zacher. He had another look earlier in the game as well, ringing a shot off the crossbar.
“The room feels good with our response after last week,” LaLonde said. “We talked about it all week, that we needed to come back strong.”
The Warriors were without Justin Gill (one-game suspension) and Ty Daneault, who was injured in practice earlier this week. His absence could be long-term.
“We had a lot of challenges this week,” said head coach Scott Borek. “We had tough results last week, a guy gets suspended, and then we lose Ty for what might be the year, and he’s really been a glue guy for us. It was a lot to overcome. We talked about overcoming that adversity a lot this week, and I’m happy for our guys with the way we handled ourselves.”
The Warriors will host Northeastern in the finale of the two-game set Friday night back at Lawler Arena (7 p.m.).
Hillier plays in his 100th game
Mark Hillier played in his 100th career NCAA game for the Warriors on Thursday. The benchmark is a milestone for any player, but it was especially notable for Hillier, who missed all of last season with an injury and returned for his fifth year of eligibility this season while wearing a “C” for Merrimack.
“Everyone knows how I feel about Mark,” Borek said. “We talk about [Daneault] being a glue guy, Mark is the ultimate glue guy. He has had to battle through a lot in his time here, but I’m so happy for him that he came back for this season. He’s a quiet leader, but the guys follow his example. I couldn’t be happier for him.”
Borek reaches 100th win behind the Merrimack bench
Hillier wasn’t the only one to hit a triple-digit milestone. Borek won his 100th game as Merrimack head coach on Thursday, becoming the fifth coach in program history to reach the mark.
Borek joins a list that also includes Mark Dennehy (168), Ron Anderson (255), J. Thom Lawler (218), and Bruce Parker (100).
Of Borek’s 100 wins, 79 have come in the last five seasons.
“I wish more came in our first three years here,” Borek joked. “I’m really proud of the work we’ve done here as a staff. It’s not just me. I didn’t even realize this was the 100th until someone said it after the game. It’s special to do it with this team.”
Borek is on pace to produce one of the best five-year windows in the history of the program in the Hockey East/Division I era. He has averaged 15.8 wins over the last five seasons (79 total, including this year), but there are still at least 12 games remaining and more opportunities to add to that number.
The current best five-year stretch belongs to Dennehy from 2008-12, when he averaged 16.6 wins (83 total).
Notebook: Keeping an eye on some freshman bests
Lalonde notched his 20th point of the season. He becomes the first Merrimack freshman to reach the 20-point mark since Daneault in 2023 (21 points).
Lalonde is averaging 0.91 points per game, while Gill is averaging 0.95. If either (or both) can hold that pace, it would mark the best season by a Merrimack freshman since Stephane Da Costa in 2009-10, when he registered 45 points in 34 games (1.32 points per game).
Northeastern’s Tyler Fukakusa dominated the faceoff dot, going 13-3. Merrimack’s best performers on draws were Nolan Flamand (9-8) and Daniel Astapovich (7-5).