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University of New Hampshire Athletics
University of New Hampshire
14-18-5
Merrimack College
15-16-6
Wildcats Advance to HEA Quarterfinals with 5-2 win at Merrimack
3/5/2017 10:21:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Junior forward Michael McNicholas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) tallied three points as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated Merrimack College in game three of the Hockey East Opening Round Sunday night, 5-2.
After starting the series down 1-0, the Wildcats won the next two to advance to the Hockey East Quarterfinals. They will take on No. 1 seed UMass Lowell in a best-of-3 series at the Tsongas Center, starting Friday, March 10 at 7:15 p.m. Game two is set for Saturday, March 11 at 7 p.m. and game three, if necessary, will take place Sunday, March 12 at 4 p.m.
Scoring goals for the Wildcats were Michael McNicholas (Manhattan Beach, Calif.), Frankie Cefalu (Buffalo, N.Y.), Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa), Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Jason Salvaggio (Hanson, Mass.). Junior netminder Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) made 44 saves on 46 shots faced, bringing his weekend total to 111. He now leads the nation in saves with 1,059.
GAME INFORMATION
Date: March 5, 2017 (7:00 p.m.)
Final Score: New Hampshire 5, Merrimack 2
New Records: New Hampshire (14-18-5, 7-11-4 HEA) // Merrimack (15-16-6, 8-8-6 HEA)
Location: Lawler Rink (North Andover, Mass.)
Goal Scorers:
UNH – Michael McNicholas (1), Frankie Cefalu (1), Patrick Grasso (1), Tyler Kelleher (1), Jason Salvaggio (1)
Merrimack – Hampus Gustafsson (1), Derek Petti (1)
Assists:
UNH – Michael McNicholas (2), Tyler Kelleher (1), Jason Salvaggio (1), Jamie Hill (1), Joe Sacco (1), Ara Nazarian (1), Patrick Grasso (1), Matias Cleland (1)
Merrimack – Jared Kolquist (1), Brett Seney (1), Alex Carle (1), Marc Biega (1)
Points:
UNH – Michael McNicholas (3), Tyler Kelleher (2), Jason Salvaggio (2), Patrick Grasso (2), Frankie Cefalu (1), Jamie Hill (1), Joe Sacco (1), Ara Nazarian (1), Matias Cleland (1)
Merrimack – Hampus Gustafsson (1), Jared Kolquist (1), Brett Seney (1), Derek Petti (1), Alex Carle (1), Marc Biega (1)
Goaltenders:
UNH – Danny Tirone (13-14-17 – 44 saves) Record: 14-16-5
Merrimack – Collin Delia (10-6-9 -- 25 saves) Record: 9-7-3
UNH Starters Merrimack Starters
LW: Nazarian LW: Babcock
C: Miller C: Larsson
RW: Grasso RW: Tibbet
LD: Cleland LD: Biega
RD: Marks RD: Titcomb
HOW IT HAPPENED
UNH broke onto the board early as McNicholas scored his second goal in as many games and 13th of the season. Junior Jason Salvaggio (Hanson, Mass.) started the play with a pass out of the UNH zone to senior Tyler Kelleher (Longmeadow, Mass.) in the neutral zone. He ended up with the puck behind the Merrimack net and dished a pass to McNicholas who one-timed it past Warrior goalie Collin Delia.
Cefalu gave UNH a 2-0 lead with his first collegiate goal at 6:01 of the first period. Freshman Anthony Wyse (Newton, Mass.) initiated the play with a shot in on net from the point that was tipped by freshman Joe Sacco (Reading, Mass.) to senior Jamie Hill (Glassboro, N.J.). Hill fired a shot in on goal that Delia saved, but Cefalu followed through and buried the rebound.
Merrimack got on the board at 9:54 of the first period on a goal by Hampus Gustafsson. Brett Seney played a pass to Jared Kolquist to start the play. Gustafsson fired a shot in from the right of UNH goalie Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) into the net.
Grasso regained a two-goal advantage for the Wildcats with his 19th goal of the season. The rookie received a pass from sophomore Ara Nazarian (Boxford, Mass.), who stripped Merrimack of the puck behind MC's net. Grasso made a quick turn-and-shoot move to beat Delia to the top corner of the net.
Kelleher tallied his second point of the night when he gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead with his 23rd goal of the season. McNicholas dished a pass to Kelleher who ripped a one-timer past Delia from just inside the point.
The Warriors made the score 4-2 at 7:54 of the third period with a power play goal by Derek Petti. March Biega and Alex Carle tallied assists on the play.
Salvaggio capped off the scoring with his 23rd goal of the season on an empty net with 1:07 remaining in the third period. Senior captain Matias Cleland (Longmont, Colo.) sent the puck up ice to McNicholas who found Salvaggio in the neutral zone. Salvaggio skated around a Merrimack defenseman and put his shot into the back of the net.
