By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff
It took an extra five minutes of play, but the No. 4/6 Merrimack College Warriors remained undefeated Friday night after coming from behind to top the No. 16 Boston University men’s hockey team, 3-2, in overtime at Agganis Arena.
Merrimack trailed by a 2-1 margin for much of the game, but a late power-play tally tied the game, and a fluky goal from Connor Toomey just 22 seconds into overtime gave the Warriors their eighth win of the season. Despite the loss, BU coach Jack Parker said he was pleased with his team’s effort.
“We had more than enough opportunities to make it 3-1 and we couldn’t do it,” Parker said. “Give them credit. They’re in the midst of a great season and they come out and got the late one and then won it in overtime. Heck of an effort by Merrimack, and I thought it was a heck of an effort from BU too.”
The Warriors (8-0-1, 6-0-1 HE) struck first 6:22 into the game when senior goaltender Kieran Millan lost sight of a rebound that squirted out straight in front of him, but an aware Justin Mansfield picked up the loose puck and chipped it past Millan for his first collegiate goal.
But Merrimack struggled to stay out of the penalty box in the first period, and BU (3-4-1, 2-3-1 HE) made the Warriors pay for their lack of discipline. Midway through the period, Warrior captain Karl Stollery was whistled off for an interference call. Jordan Heywood followed his captain to the box 1:11 later, giving BU 49 seconds of a 5-on-3. Then Kyle Bigos was called for a cross-check just 14 seconds into the 5-on-3, giving BU over two minutes to capitalize on a two-man advantage.
“I wasn’t talking to my team at that point,” said Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy.
The Terriers took over a minute to tie the game. They found the back of the net at 11:40 when junior assistant captain Alex Chiasson’s shot caromed off the right post onto sophomore defenseman Garrett Noonan’s stick on the left side of the net. With Cannata pulled to the right on Chiasson’s shot, Noonan had an empty net in front of him and banged the rebound home.
BU increased its lead 17:13 into the period when freshman forward Cason Hohmann fed a pass up to junior assistant captain Justin Courtnall, who was waiting right in front of Cannata. Courtnall swiped the puck on his backhand across the top of the crease, coaxing Cannata down, and then dumped it in behind him to give the Terriers a 2-1 lead.
“That’s the epitome of what we need right there,” said BU senior captain Chris Connolly. “That’s what makes us a good hockey team, is guys going to the net hard and playing the body. [The fourth line] did a real good job providing energy for us. They were arguably one of our best lines tonight.”
After the three-goal first, neither team could find the back of the net until the very end of the third period. Merrimack goaltender Joe Cannata looked particularly sharp, stopping 36 shots and multiple odd-man rushes throughout the game.
The Warriors broke the stalemate in the third, when, after sophomore forward Charlie Coyle was whistled off for an interference penalty, Brendan Brodhag tied the game with just 1:56 left on the clock.
“I can’t wait until the referee sees that last call [on Coyle],” Parker said. “I’d love to sit in the room when he sees that last call.”
In the wake of the loss, the Terriers will have to regroup quickly as they face No. 2 Boston College at Conte Forum for a Sunday matinee. In a season where the Terriers have been inconsistent in their effort from game-to-game, period-to-period and shift-to-shift, BU will have to replicate and improve on Friday’s effort with two important points on the line Sunday.
“I hope we can build on this because we played well tonight,” Parker said. “This was not anywhere near the way we played our last couple of games. We played a real top team, and now we’re playing an even topper team [Sunday].”
I was at the game and am underwhelmed by all the attempted fancy play the Terriers always seem to tty to do. The first two line and ALL the defense want to score highlight clip goals. Other teams move the puck and shoot. Why do the defenseman play hot potato with the puck at the point. just SHOOOOOOOT IT! 1 for 10 on the power play, REALLY???
Granted Merrimack’s goalie was spectacular and deserves much of the credit for the win, but we also helped give it to him. What I was happy about was the play of the 3rd and 4th lines. Even though they (especially the 4th) didn’t seem to be on the ice a lot, they created energy, they hustled and frankly, was by far the most effective for the time they saw. Heck, the 4th line even scored a goal with gritty play.
Maybe Parker should switch the lines around and make the 4th and 3rd lines the first and second lines. They seemed to come and play, which is more than I saw from the top two. I hope they get it together for BC
BU did play well. Unfortunately, playing well in HE is not enough. And, it is not enough on the national level. BU needs more than a leader. It needs a scoring leader, a Rick Meagher, a David Silk, an Amonte or a Drury. Obviously, they are hard to get as we just don’t seem to get them despite having an iconic coach, one of the best facilities in North America and a strong tradition. What has happened in the last couple of years?
I couldn’t agree more the 4th line was the best line last night. Even Chris Connolly said that in the postgame press conference, which is a joke because that should never be the case with a team this talented. I was happy to see them play better, just hope they can build on it.
The interference penalty on Coyle may be one of the worst calls I have ever seen. That referee McDonald was a joke all game.
All three comments above are very realistic, which often is not the case.
#1 – BU needs to shoot the puck more on the power play, especially from the points. Get it on net, go hard to the net — that is how to fix the powerpower play.
#2 – Nieto can be that big scorer.
#3 – The late penalty on Coyle was amazing. He barely bumped the guy, in the offensive zone, while on a powerplay. To make that call, at that stage, against the home team, was uterrly ridiculous.
Another costly call was Escobedo’s way behind the play crosscheck, which negated a breakaway. Amazing stuff.
all i know was that coyle’s penalty caused the game to be tied and he was on the ice for the game winner. and this guy is supposed to leave after his sophomore year. i don’t get it
Too bad Coyle didn’t leave last year. We’ve have at least one more win this year if Coyle weren’t here.
BU played very well on Friday. The problem was the horrendous call by the ref with two and a half minutes left to hand MC the game. The OT goal was unfortunate. Also, Adam Clandenning took more shots than anyone else on the team. Maybe he should try passing it once in a while cause, you know, he’s a defensemen.
Coyle played a solid game up until the penalty, and to blame the loss on him is very unfair.
All of this talk about when players are going to leave is all speculation and counter productive.
Coyle and Clendening may ‘think’ they are going to leave and turn pro after this season. But they haven’t proven anything at this level yet. In fact, they have only been proving that they need to stay.
Signing early, and riding the buses in the AHL and East Coast League, is a waste of time. Players shouldn’t leave early unless they know they are going to get a real shot at NHL.
Shattenkirk left at a good time for him. Wilson didn’t get the chance right away, but he was ready.
Bonino? Cohen? Warsofsky? Should they have stayed for their senior years? Certainly Cohen gained nothing in player development by leaving early. A mixed bag at best for Bonino. And if Warsofsky spends the whole season in Providence, how will that have worked out for him?
The players on this team need to be more concerned with how they are doing here than wondering about when to jump to the professional level. Because if they don’t start to perform better, that “next level” won’t be waiting for them with open arms.
Funny, no one called for Jack’s ouster during the entire BC game. Just goes to show you what a few goals will do. In any event, saying that Parker cannot coach because of the years he’s been here is rediculous. There may be some other criitisisms that are appopriate from time to time, but Jack’s Hockey IQ cannot be questioned.