The Warriors withstood an early Vermont goal and held off a late Catamount charge to open the second half with a 5-4 win Monday night at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
“It’s always good to win,” coach Merrimack Scott Borek said. “We had to overcome some things to win this game, but we found a way. It’s three in a row. That’s a game that I’m not sure we would have found a way to win a few months ago, but tonight we did.”
Borek felt the result was a clear snapshot of the Warriors’ growth from October to now.
Merrimack fell behind just over a minute into the game, but Michael Emerson tied it to the power play, and Caelan Fitzpatrick gave the Warriors a 2-1 lead heading into the first intermission.
“I would have liked to have had a better start,” Borek said, “but full credit to our guys for hanging in there after conceding an early goal.”
The Warriors appeared to take control early in the second period, extending the lead to 4-1 after goals from Daniel Astapovich And Ryan O’Connell. After a UVM goal made it 4-2, Mark Hillier answered to extend the Warriors’ lead to 5-2. A few goals from Matteo Michels – late in the second and early in the third – the Catamounts pulled within one.
“There’s a lot we can take away from this game in terms of things we need to learn,” Borek said. “But it’s a lot easier to teach when you win the game.
“I thought at times we tried to do a little too much in our D-zone. We turned the puck over in bad places – things we just can’t do. But we still found a way to win the game.”
Vermont applied sustained pressure late in the second period and for long parts of the third period, but the Warriors limited the damage. The Catamounts finished with 37 shots on goal, but Merrimack held them to just 2.8 expected goals — well below what that volume typically yields — highlighting a strong defensive effort that kept most chances inside the perimeter.
“Obviously I want to spend more time with the puck,” Borek said. “But I really liked our D-zone play. They took some risks because they were behind, but I don’t think we gave them much.”
Merrimack is inactive until Saturday night when the Warriors travel to Brown.
— Justin Gill was sidelined due to an unknown injury, although a return does not seem far away. Merrimack Coach Scott Borek classified Gill as day-to-day, but said his availability for Saturday’s game against Brown remains uncertain.
— Daniel Astapovich scored his first NCAA goal in the second period and was one of three Warriors to record a multi-point night.
— Ty Daneault fired three shots on target in his first appearance since November 15 after missing time with an injury.
— Parker Lalonde contributed two assists and had a strong faceoff performance, going 12-7.
– Defender Hunter Mayo is still being evaluated as he continues to deal with an injury, leaving his status unclear.
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