Wildcats Shut Out Merrimack, 5-0

Friday, January 18

North Andover, Mass.

7:30PM

University of New Hampshire

8-8-6, 4-5-3

Merrimack

7-16-1, 4-10-0

New Hampshire

Merrimack

1/18/2019 7:16:00 AM | Men's Ice Hockey

Box Score

Robinson posts second career shutout.

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Five different Wildcats found the back of the net while sophomore Mike Robinson (Bedford, N.H.) recorded 25 saves to post his second shutout of the season as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated Merrimack, 5-0, on Friday night at Lawler Rink. With the win the Wildcats improve to 8-8-6 overall (4-5-3 HEA). UNH is now 6-1-1 over its last eight games.

UP NEXT: The Wildcats will continue their road trip with a game at Maine on Monday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. and an away contest versus UConn on Friday, Jan. 25 at 7 p.m.

NEXT HOME GAME:

The Wildcats return to the Whitt on Saturday, Jan. 26 when they take on UConn on Family Hockey Day presented by Geico. There is a spaghetti dinner and activities before the game.
The first 1,000 fans will receive the third set of trading cards and hot dogs will be $1.
The 2018 America East Champion UNH men's soccer team will be signing autographs and will be honored at the game.
You can buy tickets by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.

VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

Score: New Hampshire 5, Merrimack 0
Records: New Hampshire (8-8-6, 4-5-3 HEA), Merrimack (7-16-1, 4-10-0 HEA)
Location: North Andover, Mass. (Lawler Rink)
Date: Friday, Jan. 18, 2019
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Attendance: 2,177

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Wildcats opened up the scoring at 12:19 of the first period when freshman Eric Esposito (West Haven, Conn.) sent a turn-around wrist shot from the slot to the upper stick side of the net.
Just 1:57 later, UNH increased its lead to 2-0 after junior Brendan van Riemsdyk (Middletown, N.J.) sent a pass through the slot to sophomore Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) who fired the puck into the upper glove side of the net. Senior Richard Boyd (Delray Beach, Fla.) also tallied an assist on the goal.
At the end of the first period Robinson made four saves to keep Merrimack off the scoreboard, while Drew Vogler posted six. UNH went 0-1 on the power play.
Looking to get on the board, Merrimack went on a two-man-advantage at 7:20 of the second period, but the Wildcats defense stayed strong to keep the Warriors from scoring.
On a power play, UNH opened the scoring at 13:30 of the second period when senior Marcus Vela (Burnaby, British Columbia) sent a cross pass to van Riemsdyk who then pushed the puck into the lower stick side of the net giving the Wildcats a 3-0 lead. Grasso also tallied an assist on the goal.
UNH struck again 2:01 later, when junior Liam Blackburn (Prince George, British Columbia) blasted a shot from the right face-off circle to the lower stick side of the net giving the Wildcats a 4-0 advantage at 15:31 of the second period.
At the end of the second period Robinson made 12 saves to continue to keep Merrimack off the scoreboard, while Vogler posted six and Craig Pantano posted one. UNH went 1-3 on the power play, while Merrimack went 0-3.
At 18:37 of the third period, UNH was able to capitalize on Merrimack's empty net when sophomore Max Gildon (Plano, Texas.) passed the puck to sophomore Eric MacAdams (Salem, Mass.) who was able to send the puck into the back of the net bringing the score to 5-0.
Robinson made 10 saves in the third period for the 5-0 final score.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Merrimack outshot UNH by a 25-20 margin.
Robinson made 25 saves, while Vogler recorded 12 and Pantano recorded three.
The Wildcats went 1-4 on the power play and the Warriors went 0-5.

BEYOND THE BOXSCORE

UNH swept Merrimack in the two-game regular season series, defeating the Warriors previously on Jan. 4, 2019 with an overtime score of 2-1.
Over the last two games Grasso has three goals and one assist for four points while van Riemsdyk has one goal and three assists for four points.
The Wildcats are now 6-1-1 over the last eight games played. UNH has outscored the opposition 31-20.
The Wildcats are now 3-1 over the last four Hockey East games.
Blackburn extends his point-streak to 12 games with seven goals and nine assists for 16 points. This is the longest streak for a Wildcat since Matias Cleland who had a 12-game point streak during the 2016-2017 season.

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