2014-15 MERRIMACK COLLEGE MEN’S ICE HOCKEY GAME NOTES GAME #10 MERRIMACK COLLEGE WARRIORS (6-2-1, 2-1-0 HEA) VS . N OTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (5-4-1, 1-0-1 HEA) FRIDAY , N OV . 14, 2014 | 7:00 P.M. | L AWLER RINK | N ORTH ANDOVER , M ASS . REFEREES : THOMAS FRYER , J OHN GRAVALLESE | L INESMEN : PAT TURCOTTE , M ARC SULLIVAN 2014-15 S CHEDULE /R ESULTS MULTIMEDIA I NFORMATION TV: None 6-2-1 (2-1-0 HEA, Picked 10th) Webcast (PPV): Merrimack Sports Network (www.MerrimackAthletics.TV) Audio (Free): PackNetwork.com/Merrimack (John Leahy & Mike Machnik) OCTOBER (4-1-1) Live Stats: Presto Sports PrimeTime (www.MerrimackAthletics.com) Sun. 5 ST. F RANCIS XAVIER (E X.) . .T, 2-2 Twitter: www.Twitter.com/MerrimackMIH Fri. 10 at Holy Cross . .W, 3-2 Sat. 11 HOLY CROSS . .W, 2-1 SETTING THE STAGE Sat. 18 CONNECTICUT ! * (WBIN) W, 2-1 (OT) Fri. 24 at Mercyhurst . .W, 5-4 (OT) LET’S DROP THE PUCK Sat. 25 at Mercyhurst . .L, 3-2 After toppling a ranked team for the first time since last January last Saturday, the Merrimack Fri. 31 vs. Connecticut # . .T, 2-2 College men’s ice hockey team continues its season-long four-game homestand this weekend with a two-game set against the University of Notre Dame. Puck drop both nights is set for 7 p.m. NOVEMBER (2-1-0) Sun. 2 vs. Princeton # . .W, 6-1 ALL-TIME VS. NOTRE DAME Fri. 7 at #12/10 Providence * . .L, 3-2 Merrimack and Notre Dame will be squaring off for only the ninth time in a series that dates back to the 1969-70 season. The Warriors trail in the series, 3-4-1, and went 0-1-1 last season in South Sat. 8 #12/10 PROVIDENCE * . .W, 1-0 Bend. Oddly enough, Merrimack actually has a better record on the road (2-1-1) against the Irish Fri. 14 NOTRE DAME * . .7 p.m. than at home (1-2-0). The last time Notre Dame made the trip to North Andover was on Nov. 26, Sat. 15 NOTRE DAME * (WBIN/FCS) .7 p.m. 1991, which ended with a 2-1 overtime loss to the Irish. Last year in its first trip to Compton Family Fri. 21 NORTHEASTERN * . .7 p.m. Ice Arena, Merrimack fell in the weekend opener, 4-0, before Vinny Scotti used a late extra-attacker Sat. 22 at Northeastern * . .7 p.m. goal to salvage the weekend with a 2-2 draw. The most memorable contest between the two came Fri. 28 CLARKSON . .4 p.m. in March of 2011, when the Irish nipped the Warriors, 4-3, in overtime in the NCAA Tournament. Sat. 29 CLARKSON . .4 p.m. Head to Page 9 for more information on the all-time series! DECEMBER (0-0-0) SCOUTING THE FIGHTING IRISH Fri. 5 BOSTON U. * (WBIN/FCS) .7 p.m. Notre Dame was flying high before suffering a two-game weekend sweep against top-ranked Sat. 6 at Boston U. * . .7 p.m. Minnesota a week ago. The Irish were outscored by a 9-2 margin over both contests. Prior to then, Notre Dame hadn’t lost in six straight since starting the year with back-to-back losses in the Ice JANUARY (0-0-0) Breaker Tournament. Sitting at 5-4-1 on the year (1-0-1 HEA), Notre Dame averages 3.20 GPG offen - Fri. 2 at Minnesota $ (FSN+) . .TBA sively (4th HEA/T-16th nat’l) and boasts a 2.60 team GAA (4th HEA). The Irish are led by Mario Lucia and Robbie Russo, who bring in 10 points into the weekend. The former’s eight goals top the Sat. 3 vs. RIT/UMass Lowell $ . .TBA squad, while the latter’s six assists are tied for the team lead. In net, Cal Peterson and Chad Katunar Fri. 16 QUINNIPIAC . .7 P.M. have split time; the former has logged a 3-3-1 record over 383:55, with a 2.50 GAA and .925 SV%. Sat. 17 at Quinnipiac . .7 p.m. Wed. 21 at Boston College * (NESN) . .7 p.m. LAST TIME OUT: MERRIMACK 1, PROVIDENCE 0 Fri. 23 MASSACHUSETTS * . .7 P.M. With no score and 10 minutes to play, junior Brian Christie sniped home the game's only goal and Sat. 24 at Massachusetts * . .7 p.m. the defense held on the rest of the way, as Merrimack skated past No. 12/10 Providence College, 1- Tue. 27 at Connecticut * . .7 p.m. 0, in an electric Hockey East tilt on Saturday night at Lawler Rink. Fri. 30 UM ASS LOWELL * (WBIN/FCS) 7 P.M. Sat. 31 at UMass Lowell * . .7 p.m. Playing in what felt like a postseason showdown against the team it's played most frequently since the program's inception, Merrimack held an 11-shot (27-16) advantage through 40 minutes and FEBRUARY (0-0-0) maintained the pace of play through 10 minutes of the third but had nothing to show on the board. Fri. 6 BOSTON COLLEGE * . .7 P.M. Fri. 13 MAINE * . .7 P.M. After a player from each side was booked at 9:08 for matching penalties, play opened up with a 4- on-4 opportunity at stake. Perhaps because of that, junior defenseman and former Friar Craig Sat. 14 MAINE * . .7 P.M. Wyszomirski intercepted the puck in the neutral zone and had room to skate into the Providence Fri. 20 at Vermont * . .7 p.m. zone, down the left half wall and around the net. Waiting for him in the slot Sat. 21 at Vermont * . .7 p.m. was Christie, and Wyszomirski's pass was a perfect one, as the West RANKINGS Sat. 27 at New Hampshire (WBIN) * 7:30 p.m. Chester, Pennsylvania, native unloaded a wrister that beat All-American Sat. 28 at New Hampshire * . .5 p.m. goaltender Jon Gillies over the glove to set the crowd on fire, giving the USA Today: RV home side a 1-0 lead with 10 minutes to play. HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT USCHO : RV KRACH: n/a Hockey East Opening Round March 6-8 Providence kept Merrimack pinned in its own zone over the ensuing PairWise: 7th Best-of-3 (5-v-12, 6-v-11, 7-v-10, 8-v-9) five minutes and went to a five-minute power play down the stretch. But RPI: 7th Hockey East Quarterfinals (Best-of-3) March 13-15 Merrimack's penalty kill, which entered the game tied for seventh Hockey East Semifinals (TD Garden) March 20 nationally, stood tall over that span. Hockey East Championship (TD Garden) March 21 Following two more minutes of 4-on-4 time, Providence pulled its goalie with just over 40 seconds * = Hockey East Game | ! = Homecoming Weekend to play. But senior goaltender Rasmus Tirronen turned away the final few shots he faced before the puck was banked out of the zone and down the length of the ice until the buzzer sounded. # = Liberty Invitational (Newark, N.J.) $ = Mariucci Classic (Minneapolis, Minn.) 2014-15 M ERRIMACK LEADERS HOME GAMES IN CAPS SCORING GOALIES ALL TIMES EASTERN AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE POINTS CHRISTIE (9) GP RASMUS TIRRONEN (8) 2014-15 HEA/National Rankings GOALS CHRISTIE /S ENEy (4) GAA RASMUS TIRRONEN (1.73) ASSISTS H. G USTAFSSON (6) SAVES RASMUS TIRRONEN (181) GP TWELVE TIED (9) SAVE PCT RASMUS TIRRONEN (.928) Scoring Offense: 2.78/game (8th/T-27th) PIM SINGLETON (17) WINS RASMUS TIRRONEN (6) Scoring Defense: 1.89/game (3rd/10th) SHOTS CHRISTIE (35) SHUTOUTS RASMUS TIRRONEN (1) Power Play: 16.0% (3rd/29th) +/- H. G USTAFSSON /H ENNIG (+5) Penalty Kill: 92.7% (2nd/7th) Athletic Communications • Hockey Contact: Chris Aliano • www.merrimackathletics.com Special Teams Net: +5 / 50.5% (2nd/34th) Department of Athletics • 315 Turnpike Street, North Andover, MA 01845-5806 Penalty Minutes: 12.0/game (T-3rd/T-28th) ph (978) 837-3472 / (973) 632-1342 • fax (978) 837-5032 • e-mail: [email protected] 1 2014-15 MERRIMACK COLLEGE ICE HOCKEY HERE’S WHAT’S NOTEWORTHY... 2014-15 SINGLE-GAME HIGHS/LOWS M e r k BEATING THE BEST r c • Merrimack’s win over Providence last weekend was its first over a ranked team since MERRIMACK TEAM HIGHS i m a topping then-fifth-ranked Quinnipiac last January at Lawler Rink, 6-3 Points 14 vs. Princeton (11/2/14) a M • Last year, Merrimack went 2-15-2 against ranked teams c o • In this week’s latest national rankings, Merrimack is not scheduled to face a ranked Goals 6 vs. Princeton (11/2/14) k G team until Dec. 5-6 against now-third-ranked Boston University A # Assists 8 2x, rec. vs. Princeton (11/2/14) CHRISTIE CRUISING t h • Junior Brian Christie has scored each of Merrimack’s last two goals, including the Shots on Goal 43 vs. UConn (10/18/14) l game-winner against the Friars last Saturday night Saves 28 at Mercyhurst (10/24/14) e t • Over his last four games, the West Chester, Pennsylvania, native has totaled six i points (2g, 4a), and he now owns the team lead with nine points Penalties 7 2x, rec. vs. Providence (11/8/14) c s Penalty Minutes 25 vs. Providence (11/8/14) . EXTRA SWEET c • Junior defenseman Craig Wyszomirski picked up the lone assist on Brian Christie’s o game-winner on Saturday night after intercepting an errant pass from PC netminder m Jon Gillies and feeding Christie in the right circle for the go-ahead tally OPPONENT TEAM HIGHS • It was only Wyszomirski’s second career assist, and it must have felt even better Points 12 at Mercyhurst (10/24/14) knowing that he set up the game-winner against his former team (2011-12) Goals 4 at Mercyhurst (10/24/14) IT’S BEEN AWHILE Assists 8 at Mercyhurst (10/24/14) • The last time Notre Dame played a game in North Andover was back on Nov.