Warriors come alive in the third to top St. Lawrence
Warriors come alive in the third to top St. Lawrence
NORTH ANDOVER — Sluggish would have been a word to describe the Warriors through 20 minutes.
But you know the phrase ... it's not how you start, it's how you finish.
Merrimack scored four goals in the third period on Sunday afternoon en route to a 5-2 win over St. Lawrence. The Warriors swept a weekend set against the Saints and Clarkson.
"We're very pleased with the result," said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. "I thought they kind of carried the play in the first half of the game. But our third period was exactly what it needed to be. I didn't think we had the juice early, but we played really well in the third so we're happy with the result."
One of Merrimack's captains, Christian Felton, got the scoring started in the third period, scoring off a scrum in front to give the Warriors a 2-1 lead. Trevor Griebel gave the Warriors a two-goal cushion with his first of the season, and Michael Citara added more insurance with his first goal as a Warrior. Chase Stevenson tacked on an empty-netter — his third goal of the weekend — in the final seconds.
Junior Devlin O'Brien scored his first career goal in the first period.
"I was happy for him," Borek said. "He has been in and out of the lineup and he redshirted last year. He does a lot of things well and he plays the right way and shows up every day. When you approach it that way, good things happen."
Young left the game with an injury
Merrimack sophomore Tyler Young left the game in the second period with an undisclosed injury.
"We'll know more tomorrow," Borek said. "I don't expect that he'll be available, but we'll know more tomorrow."
In Young's place, 13th forward David Sacco was moved up the line chart, and he played alongside Ben Brar and Chase Stevenson.
"It's a great lesson for anyone," Borek said. "David was our 13th forward, but stayed very engaged in the game. He was very involved on the bench. Then he got the call. We kind of threw him out there with some good linemates, and he handled it very well. He almost created a goal for us. I was impressed."
NOTES: Matt Copponi went 20-5 on faceoffs, and the Warriors went 44-27 as a team. … The Saints took two “too many men on the ice” penalties. … The shot attempts were even at 55-55. … Felton led the Warriors with four blocked shots, and Merrimack finished the night with 18 blocked shots. … The Warriors generated 13 shots on goal in eight power plays. Brar had four shots on goal on the PP.
Game Shots
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Merrimack 5, St. Lawrence
at Lawler Arena
St. Lawrence (1-3-0): 0-1-1--2
Merrimack (2-1-1): 0-1-4--5
First Period: None
Second Period: 1. Felikss Gavars 3 (Phillippe Chapleau), ev, 8:45; 2. MC Devlin O'Brien 1 (Matt Copponi, Frank Djurasevic), ev, 17:28.
Third Period: 3. MC Christian Felton 1 (Mark Hillier, Mac Welsher) (1:33; 4. MC Trevor Griebel 1 (Ty Daneault, Mark Hillier), ev, 7:51; 5. MC Michael Citara 1 (Zach Bookman, Matt Copponi), pp, 10:42; 6. SLU Jan Lasak 1 (Will Arquiett, Mason Waite), ev, 13:10; 7. MC Chase Stevenson 3 (Mac Welsher, Mark Hillier), pp/en, 17:38.
Shots: MC 9-11-17--37; SLU 8-7-7--22
Save: MC Ollas (60:00) 20/22; SLU Kraws (59:35) 32/36
Power Play: Merrimack 2 for 8; St. Lawrence 0 for 7
Penalties: MC 8-16:00; SLU 10-28:00
Attendance: 2,087