Men’s Hockey Battles to 3-3 Draw at No. 13/14 Merrimack

Saturday, November 14

North Andover, Mass.

7:00 PM

University of New Hampshire

Merrimack College

Photo by: Paige O'Donnell

11/14/2015 9:55:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Junior forward Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) registered three points (1g, 2a) on the night as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team battled No. 13/14 Merrimack College to a 3-3 draw at Lawler Rink Saturday night. Sophomore forward Andrew Poturalski (Williamsville, N.Y.) and freshman forward Chris Miller (Windham, N.H.) also scored for UNH.

As the Wildcats were down 3-2 with 38 seconds left, Miller tied the game at 3-3 with his third goal of the season. The play started with Kelleher sliding a pass to junior blueliner Matias Cleland (Longmont, Colo.) at the point. Cleland fired a shot on net that Merrimack netminder Collin Delia saved, but Miller swatted the rebound into the net.

The Wildcats now sit at 3-4-2 on the season and 1-0-2 in Hockey East play while the Warriors are now 6-1-3 overall and 2-1-3 in league action. The Wildcats return home on Friday, Nov. 20 as they host the University of Massachusetts at 7 p.m. The team hosts Boston College the following night on Saturday, Nov. 21, also at 7 p.m. Saturday night's game is Salute to Service Night as well as Alumni Night. Limited tickets are available by visiting www.UNHWildcats.com or by calling the Whittemore Center Ticket Office at (603) 862-4000 extension 5.

Both teams tried to get on the board in the first period, however each team's netminder remained perfect. Sophomore netminder Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) made saves on each of the three shots he faced while Warrior goalie Collin Delia made saves on all nine shots the Wildcats sent at him. Sophomore blueliner Cameron Marks (North Vancouver, British Columbia) led the 'Cats with a pair of shots.

In the second period, Poturalski made a great bid as he played skated into the zone and played the puck off the back wall to himself to get around the defense. He retrieved his own wall pass and fired a shot, but Delia made the save.

The Warriors took a 1-0 lead with 3:51 left in the second period on a goal by Craig Wyszomirski. Hampus Gustafsson started the play as he sent a pass to Alex Carle who then fired a shot on net. Tirone made the save on the initial save, but Wyszomirski was waiting on the doorstep for the rebound and put it away.

At the end of two periods, the Warriors held a 1-0 lead.

The Wildcats got on the board at the 2:13 mark of the third period with a goal by Kelleher during 5-on-3 play. The play started with Poturalski winning a faceoff back to senior forward Maxim Gaudreault (Annapolis, Md.) along the boards. Gaudreault slid a pass over to Kelleher who ripped a wrister past Delia for his fifth goal of the season.

Less than a minute later while on a 5-on-4 advantage, Poturalski notched his team-leading seventh goal of the season to give UNH a 2-1 lead. Cleland grabbed the second assist on the goal as he played a pass to Kelleher. Kelleher found Poturalski in the slot open who then ripped a shot into the net.

With 5:09 left in the third period, the Warriors tied the score at 2-2 with a goal by Jace Hennig. Brett Seney forced a turnover in the UNH zone and played a pass to Ludvig Larsson. Larsson found Hennig in the slot who fired a one-timer into the net. With 4:48 left in the third, Merrimack took a 3-2 lead on a goal by Brian Christie.

Tirone made a total of 28 saves on the night as his record now stands at 1-4-2. He made 12 saves in the second period, 10 in the third and three in overtime. Delia made 36 saves in the game for Merrimack as his record is now 6-1-3. New Hampshire went 2-for-5 on power plays while not committing a penalty.

For more information on men's hockey, visit www.UNHWildcats.com.