Men's Hockey Edged 2-1 in Game 3 of HEA First-Round Series at Merrimack

Sunday, March 6

North Andover, MA

7 PM

University of New Hampshire

11-20-6, 4-12-6HEA

Merrimack College

13-17-7, 5-10-7

New Hampshire

Merrimack

Photo by: Gil Talbot

Men's Hockey Edged 2-1 in Game 3 of HEA First-Round Series at Merrimack

3/6/2016 9:39:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Hockey East First Round, Game 3 (Best of 3)
Date: March 6, 2016
Score: #7 Merrimack College 2, #10 University of New Hampshire 1
Merrimack wins series, 2-1

UNH –            0          0          1          -           1
Merrimack      0          2          0          -           2

Location: Lawler Rink (North Andover, Mass.)
Attendance: 2,549 (3,000 capacity)
Goal Scorers: New Hampshire – Matt Dawson (4)
                         Merrimack – Derek Petti (5), Jace Hennig (5)
Goaltenders: UNH - Danny Tirone (9-19-6) 40 saves (13 | 13 | 14 – 58:49)
                        Merrimack– Drew Vogler (5-5-1) 27 saves (8 | 10 | 9 – 59:56)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Matt Dawson (Delta, British Columbia) scored his fourth goal of the season midway through the third period, and the 10^th-seeded University of New Hampshire men's hockey team killed off a pair of 5-on-3 penalties in the final frame, but seventh-seeded Merrimack College edged UNH, 2-1, on Sunday night at Lawler Rink to win the best-of-3 Hockey East first-round series, 2 games to 1.

Merrimack (13-17-7) advances to meet No. 2 seed Providence College in a best-of-3 HEA quarterfinal series starting Friday, March 11. UNH's season ends with a record of 11-20-6.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Trailing 2-0 midway through the third, UNH got on the board when Dawson fired a wrist shot by Drew Vogler (27 saves) to trim Merrimack's lead to 2-1 at 10:34. Kyle Smith (Lumberton, N.J.) won the puck deep in the MC zone and played it to Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.) along the right side. Nazarian slid the pass to the opposite wing where the streaking Dawson blasted a one-timer from the inner half of the faceoff circle.

The Warriors outshot the Wildcats all 10 periods of the series, including 42-28 in Game 3.

Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) registered his third straight 40-plus save effort, making an even 40 saves in the losing effort.

Derek Petti, who compiled only two goals during the regular season, scored for the third straight game in the series to stake Merrimack to a 1-0 lead at 8:01 of the second period. The freshman crossed the UNH line on the left wing before dropping a pass to Marc Biega in the slot. Tirone made the stop on Biega's bid, but Petti pounced on the rebound for his fifth goal of the year.

The Warriors increased their lead to 2-0 at 18:34 of the second on Jace Hennig's fifth goal of the season. Hennig skated into the Wildcats zone, screeched to a halt along the left wing half-wall, angled to the slot and triggered a backhand shot that got caught up in traffic in front of the crease. Hennig stayed with the play and poked the rebound by Tirone for his first goal of the series. Biega was credited with his second assist of the night.

UNH held Merrimack 0-for-4 on the power play while going 1-for-3 with the man advantage.

Matias Cleland (Longmont, Colo.) was assessed a 5-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for charging at 19:42 of the second period.

PENALTIES
New Hampshire: 5 penalties - 21 minutes
Merrimack: 3 penalties - 6 minutes

SPECIAL TEAMS
New Hampshire: 1-for-3
Merrimack: 0-for-4

SHOTS
New Hampshire 28 – 8 | 10 | 10
Merrimack 42 - 13 | 15 | 14

NEW HAMPSHIRE LEADERS
Points: Matt Dawson (1), Ara Nazarian (1), Kyle Smith (1)
Goals: Matt Dawson (1)
Assists: Ara Nazarian (1), Kyle Smith (1)

MERRIMACK LEADERS
Points: Marc Biega (2)
Goals: Derek Petti (1), Jace Hennig (1)
Assists: Marc Biega (2)

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