Warriors have best offensive night in a decade in win over Stonehill
Merrimack 9, Stonehill 5
BOSTON — The Warriors’ offense produced its most prolific night in a decade on Tuesday, pouring in nine goals in a 9-5 victory over Stonehill at Warrior Ice Arena.
The nine-goal outburst marked Merrimack’s highest single-game total since a 10-0 win over Arizona State on Jan. 31, 2016.
Offensively, it was a statement night.
Defensively, it left the Warriors wanting more, particularly after surrendering five goals — three of them in the third period.
“I thought we were loose most of the game, but I recognize the challenge of this game on our schedule,” Merrimack coach Scott Borek said. “I give our guys a lot of credit for getting to work. That’s a better Stonehill team than we played a year ago, and we lost that game, so I’m happy we were able to put some pucks in the net. I just felt bad that we left our goalie by himself a few times, because he’s been so good for us. But we got the result we needed to get.”
The win improved the Warriors to 9-2-1 over their last 12 games, marking Merrimack’s best 12-game stretch since going 11-1 from Oct. 29 to Nov. 22, 2022.
Since the surge began on Dec. 12, the Warriors have scored 45 goals, averaging 3.8 per game. They’ve found the back of the net at least three times in nine of those 12 contests.
“A huge thing for us has been building continuity,” sophomore forward Trevor Hoskin said. “This is one of the closest rooms I’ve been a part of, and we’re all buying into what the coaches want us to do. We’ve built a really good routine every week. I’ve honestly never felt more comfortable going into games. The way we build up throughout the week and the way the coaches have us prepared. So we enter the weekend of games really confident because of how well prepared we are, and we’re just trying to ride that.”
Hoskin recorded a career-high four points (two goals, two assists) and now leads the Warriors with 27 points (eight goals, 19 assists) in 26 games.
While Borek felt the Warriors too often left Lundgren exposed on Tuesday, the goaltender has been a central figure in Merrimack’s turnaround during this stretch.
Lundgren has held opponents to two goals or fewer in eight of the last 12 games. Among goaltenders who have played at least two-thirds of their team’s minutes — a standard qualifying benchmark for national leaders — he ranks 11th nationally in goals saved above expected. Among goalies in the top three toughest conferences (Big Ten, CCHA, and NCHC), he ranks sixth.
“Max has obviously been a huge part of it,” Borek said. “Special teams have been a huge part of it. I just think our structure has been really good. It came on the last part of the first half. I thought we turned a corner in the game at Long Island. That was a hard game. They hunted us, but the way we got through that game, we’ve been a better team since then.”
The Warriors have the weekend off before returning to action Feb. 13 at home against Boston College to open a home-and-home series.
BC enters the week at 15-8-1 and will face Vermont on Friday night before meeting Boston University in the Beanpot championship game on Monday.
Notebook: Five Warriors post multi-point games
— Along with Trevor Hoskin, Justin Gill (1g, 2a), Nick Pierre (1g, 2a), Ryan O’Connell (1g, 1a), and Daniel Astapovich (1g, 1a) all recorded multi-point performances.
— The Warriors generated 4.8 expected goals, their highest total in a single game this season.
— JJ Grainda scored a hat trick for Stonehill.
— The Skyhawks used all three of their goaltenders. Starter Linards Lipskis was pulled after the first period, returned to begin the third, and was then lifted again in favor of Dylan Ghaemi.
Merrimack 9, Stonehill 5
at Warrior Ice Arena
Merrimack College (14-12-1): 4-2-3--9
Stonehill College (5-19-0): 1-1-3--5
First Period
1. MC Trevor Hoskin 7 (Nick Pierre, Justin Gill), ev, 1:13.
2. MC Ryan O'Connell 3 (Daniel Astapovich, Ethan Beyer), ev, 9:40.
3. SC Pat Murphy 4 (Billy Renfrew, Dominick Campione), pp, 18:25.
4. MC Joey Henneberry 2 (Ryan O'Connell), ev, 18:51.
5. MC Cam Kungle 1 (Michael Emerson), ev, 19:32.
Second Period
6. SC JJ Grainda 5 (Evan Orr), sh, 13:36.
7. MC Trevor Hoskin 8 (Nick Pierre, Justin Gill), pp, 15:55
8. MC Caelan Fitzpatrick 6 (Parker Lalonde), sh, 19:37.
Third Period
9. SC Anthony Galante 5 (Matthew Rafalski), pp, 1:19.
10. MC Daniel Astapovich 2 (Seamus Powell), ev, 2:00.
11. MC Nick Pierre 11 (Justin Gill, Austin Oravetz), ev, 4:06
12. MC Justin Gill 11 (Caden Cranston, Trevor Hoskin), pp, 7:09.
13. SC JJ Grainda 6 (Dominick Campione, Justin Gibson), pp, 12:53.
14. SC JJ Grainda 7 (Evan Orr, Ryan Davies), ev, 13:49.
Shots: MC 13-17-12--42; SC 10-6-13--29
Saves: MC Lundgren (59:43) 24/29; SC Lipskis (27:09) 13/20; Androlewicz (20:00) 15/17; Ghaemi (12:51) 5/5
Power Play: MC 2 for 7; SC 2 for 3
Penalties: MC 4-8:00; SC 8-16:00