BURLINGTON, Vt. – #16 Merrimack scored three second period goals Friday night to rally from behind to defeat Vermont 3-2 in Hockey East action from Gutterson Fieldhouse on DR Power Night.
RELATED LINKS
Box Score
CatamounTV Highlights
COACH'S QUOTE
"There was nothing I liked about our game today," Head Coach
Todd Woodcroft said. "We were not ready to play tonight. We will need to be better tomorrow."
HOW IT HAPPENED
- The Warriors opened the scoring 6:29 into the first period. Mick Messner took advantage of some confusion in front of the Vermont net and tucked home his first goal of the season after a Merrimack dump in on net.
- On their first power play opportunity of the game the Catamounts stayed hot with the man advantage. Joel Maatta played a puck into the slot to Isak Walther, Walther fanned on his initial one-timer attempt but he regathered the puck and fired it past Merrimack's Hugo Ollas for UVM's 13th power play goal in its last 13 games. Andrei Buyalsky also earned an assist on the play.
- 3:12 later Will Zapernick gave UVM its first lead of the game with its first shorthanded goal of the season. Zapernick gathered the puck in the Vermont zone and pushed the puck forward. As he entered the UVM zone with two Warriors defenders he skated to the left and fired beating Ollas with a quick shot for his sixth goal of the season.
- Merrimack's Ben Brar scored 4:25 into the second period to tie things back up. A centering feed from Alex Jefferies deflected off a Vermont defenders skate and Brar tapped home the loose puck in the crease.
- Jefferies notched the game-winner for the Warriors with a shorthanded tally at the 9:59 mark. Cutting down the wing in transition Jefferies ripped a shot just past the reach of UVM's Gabe Carriere to make it 3-2.
- Brar added an insurance marker on the power play with 5:09 left in the second period. From in front of the net Brar redirected a shot from Will Caverley for his 10th goal of the season.
- Vermont had three power play opportunities in the third period and generated eight shots but they couldn't solve Merrimack's Zachary Borgiel who took over for Ollas after the first period.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- In its last 13 games Vermont's power play has scored 13 times. Over that stretch UVM is 13-for-56, good for 23.2%.
- Graduate defenseman Robbie Stucker blocked a game-high three shots for the Catamounts.
- With tonight's 4-2 decision, Community Bank N.A. will donate $150 to Special Olympics Vermont. Community Bank, N.A. donates $75 per goal to Special Olympics Vermont for every goal the men's and women's team scores this season.
UP NEXT
On Saturday it is the annual Green Out the Gut presented by Casella Waste Management. Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. between Merrimack and Vermont. Like all Hockey East contests the matchup with the Warriors will air on ESPN+. It will also be available on a pay-per-view basis internationally at
https://portal.stretchinternet.com/hockeyeast. Subscriptions to the service are available for $9.99 USD per month or $4.99 USD for individual games.
Handy Toyota is the presenting sponsor of the 2022-23 men's hockey season
