Warriors rally falls short as BU completes weekend sweep
Boston University 5, Merrimack 4
NORTH ANDOVER — For the second night in a row, there were stretches on Saturday where the Warriors controlled play against Boston University. But for the second night in a row, they didn’t control enough of it.
Despite nearly erasing a three-goal deficit, the Warriors fell to the Terriers 5–4 at Lawler Arena. Coming off Friday’s overtime loss, BU took five of six possible league points on the weekend.
“I love the way we stayed with it,” said Merrimack coach Scott Borek. “We played really hard, but we just gave up too much, and our breakout wasn’t as good as I would have liked.”
The Warriors outshot the Terriers 31–24, aided by six power-play chances (BU had four). When Merrimack got pucks behind BU’s defense and forced them to retrieve with their backs turned, they created real problems on the forecheck. But there were also stretches where Merrimack got caught trying to play BU’s preferred style — a transition-heavy, skill-based game.
“I didn’t think we put it behind their D enough,” Borek said. “We wanted them to pivot, and given how many of their guys played big minutes last night, we didn’t do enough to make it hard for them.”
Justin Gill and Hunter Mayo scored on the power play late in the second period.
That’s when things turned chippy. Jack Murtagh was ejected after a slew-foot on Seamus Powell in the corner. Powell was slow to get up but returned later in the game.
Moments later, BU goaltender Mikhail Yegorov was assessed a major for headbutting and given a game disqualification, but after review, officials determined Yegorov had more of a chest bump with Trevor Hoskin than a headbutt, and the major penalty was overturned.
Merrimack generated 13 shots on the power play and scored twice.
“We did a good job creating chances, I can’t complain about that,” Borek said. “We’re still a young team, and we need to grow from this weekend.”
BU pulled away in the third period with two late goals, including an empty-netter. Ty Daneault answered just 11 seconds after the empty-net goal, hammering one home, and Benny Yurchuk added his second goal of the weekend with an extra attacker on the ice and 1:06 left to play.
“We need to focus on getting better,” Borek said. “As a young team, we need to focus on getting better and growing from this weekend. We can’t lose focus.
“At Merrimack, it has to be a collective effort. We need everybody doing things the way we need them done. We can’t vary from that.”
The Warriors will now turn their attention to Providence next week. Like BU, the Friars were picked near the top of Hockey East in the preseason poll.
Merrimack dropped to 3–4 in regulation (0–1 in overtime). Excluding empty-netters, three of those losses have been by one goal. Both games against BU this weekend were one-goal contests.
“We lost two games, so we’re not where we want to be, but if you take a step back, we lost two one-goal games. We aren’t that far off. We just need to be ready to get better on Monday.”
Notebook: Cranston could be out for a while
— Sophomore forward Caden Cranston was hit late along the wall by Sacha Boisvert on Friday night. He returned briefly that evening but missed Saturday’s game, and Borek said he’s “potentially out for a while.”
— The Warriors won the faceoff battle for the second straight night. Parker Lalonde led the way, going 15–9 on draws.
— Hunter Mayo scored his first collegiate goal late in the second period, blasting a slap shot from the point that beat Yegorov with 10 seconds left in the frame.
— Ty Daneault posted three points (1g, 2a) — the first time in his collegiate career he’s recorded more than two points in a game.
Why are the guys with a little experience being sat, like Hillier, Campbell-?