The #20 Maine Black Bears built a 5-1 second period lead on Saturday night on a goal by Sully Scholle, and then held off a third period rally by Merrimack College to pick up a weekend sweep by a final score of 5-4 in men’s Hockey East play at Lawler Rink in North Andover, Massachusetts.
It only took Maine 37 seconds to break onto the scoreboard, as Brandon Chabrier wristed a shot on net from the blue line after a clearing attempt by Merrimack that eluded Warriors goalie Zachary Borgiel. Bradly Nadeau made it 2-0 at 8:18 on an assist by Lynden Breen. The second of the night by Nadeau 1:15 into the second period extended the advantage to 3-0, before MC got on the board for the first time with a goal from Mac Welsher at 5:41. The Black Bears looked as if they had really taken over when Ben Poisson tallied at 11:03, and Scholle picked up his first of the season at 17:58 to make it 5-1 ending the night in goal for Borgiel. Merrimack came out firing though in the third, as Alex Jeffries scored at 3:48 and Michael Citara found the back of the net at 10:29 to slice it to 5-3 with still over nine minutes remaining. Jeffries really made it interesting with his second of the period at 16:16, but Maine was able to hold them off over the last few minutes even with netminder Hugo Ollas pulled late for the extra attacker.
Victor Ostman made 19 saves for Maine, as the Black Bears improve to 5-1 and 2-0 in Hockey East. Bradly Nadeau led the way with his two goals and also added an assist, while Breen had two helpers. Jeffries had two goals and Citara had a goal and an assist in the loss for Merrimack, who falls to 3-4 and 1-2 in league play. Borgiel stopped 23 shots over the first two periods, while Ollas would stop all eight he saw in the third period in relief. Maine returns home to Alfond Arena next Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. when they take on the #1 team in the country Boston College.
Recap by Chris Lessner
Maine goaltender Victor Ostman focuses to make a save in an earlier exhibition game against UNH. The Black Bears completed a road sweep over Merrimack on Saturday night with a 5-4 win. Photo by Anthony DelMonaco
