Merrimack Men's Hockey Goes To Chestnut Hill After Wins Over BC, UMass

NORTH ANDOVER, MA — The Merrimack College men's hockey team will be looking to make it three conference wins in a row when it travels to Boston College for a matinee on Saturday.

The Warriors (5-3-0, 3-1-0 in Hockey East) take on the Eagles (2-3-1, 2-2-0) at 1 p.m. at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. The game can be seen live on ESPN Plus.

Merrimack defeated BC 3-1 on Thursday in front of a sellout crowd at J. Thom Lawler Rink.

The Warriors found the net in each period. Graduate student defenseman Slava Demin opened the scoring with a laser in the first period. Then, Warriors senior forward Filip Forsmark put in a rebound on a second-period powerplay.

Merrimack led 2-1 entering the third, and the Warriors were strong during the final period, according to head coach Scott Borek.

The effort was rewarded when forward Jordan Seyfert, a graduate student, found the net from the top of the crease with 2:41 remaining to wrap up the scoring.

Merrimack sophomore forward Mark Hillier had assists on the first and third goals of the game.

"I think that our team's confidence is growing, when you have good third periods (like we've had), they grow on each other, this team is very mature and approaches the third the right way." Borek said.

Borek continued: "Our depth really gives each other confidence as the game goes into the third and in the final ten minutes."

Sophomore netminder Hugo Ollas made 18 saves for Merrimack, picking up his third win of the season.

"I really like the way Hugo (Ollas) is playing right now, he's got a lot of confidence," Borek said.

On Oct. 29 at Lawler Arena, the Warriors knocked off then-No. 5 UMass 2-1 in overtime, with the home team getting a dramatic goal late in the third period to force the extra session.

Trailing 1-0 in the final minute of regulation, Borek called a timeout and put on an extra skater.

With 36 seconds remaining in regulation, A long shot by junior forward Alex Jefferies deflected to senior forward Mac Welsher, who put the puck in the back of the net.

In the extra session, Merrimack senior forward Ben Brar drove past a defenseman, skated across the crease and then put in the game-winner with 1:23 left on the clock.

The victory gave Merrimack a bit of revenge after the Warriors had lost 3-2 to UMass in overtime the previous day in Amherst.