The Warriors dropped their third straight game at Alfond Arena on Saturday night, falling 5-2 to the Black Bears.
Maine scored three power-play goals in the game, the difference on a night when special teams tilted the ice.
“Penalties,” Coach Merrimack Scott Borek said. “We played well in the first period, but lost momentum on penalties.”
The Warriors did playing well early. Merrimack struck first Caelan Fitzpatrick opened the scoring, and despite Maine tying the game Jos NadeauAfter the first period goal, the Warriors had a 2-1 lead at intermission Michael Emerson replied back.
But the game unfolded quickly in the second period.
Merrimack started the next period with a short time Joseph Henneberry was called for a hold after 20 minutes of the first. Maine wasted little time capitalizing, as Miguel Marquis scored on the power play to tie the game in knots.
After Owen Fowler gave the Black Bears the lead, the Warriors took consecutive penalties and Maine made them pay again. On the second chance, Nadeau scored his second of the evening, making the margin 4-2.
Any chance of a late push evaporated in the third period. With Merrimack trailing by two and just over five minutes to go, Nick Pierre was assessed a severe penalty for cross-checking, along with in-game misconduct, forcing the Warriors to kill penalties for the rest of the night.
“Not great timing there,” Borek said. “It affected our ability to pull the goalie and play with the extra attacker on the ice. It was a shame.”
The first twenty minutes were one of Merrimack’s sharper stretches in recent weeks. The Warriors outscored Maine 13-5 in the first inning and controlled much of the game while holding a 2-1 lead.
“It was one of the best periods we’ve had in a while,” Borek said. “Especially a first period, but we couldn’t finish it.
“[Penalties] had a lot to do with it. I don’t think they’ve made a big adjustment, we went from playing five-on-five to one man in that period.”
— The Warriors finished the weekend in eighth place in Hockey East and occupied the final home ice spot for the opening round of the conference tournament. Merrimack will host Vermont (11th) next weekend for a two-game series before closing out the regular season at home against UMass Lowell (9th) the following week.
— Justin Gill‘s seven-game goal streak and 12-game point streak came to an end.
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