#10 Providence Falls to #11 Merrimack for First League Loss

Ian Steele,

Nick Poisson and Bennett Schimek scored to erase a 2-0 deficit but an early third period goal led No. 11/10 Merrimack to a 3-2 win over the No. 10/11 Providence College men’s hockey team on Saturday night (Dec. 10) at Schneider Arena.

RECORDS
No. 10/11 Providence (9-4-5, 6-1-5 HEA) | No. 11/10 (13-4-0, 9-2-0 HEA)

SCORE
No. 10/11 Providence – 2 | Merrimack – 3

VENUE
Schneider Arena – Providence, R.I.

GOALIES
Philip Svedebäck (PC) – 12 saves, 3 goals against
Zachary Borgiel (MC) – 24 saves, 2 goals against

NOTES
– Merrimack jumped out to an early lead just 52 seconds into the game on a one-timer from Slava Demin off a faceoff win.
– The Friars went to work on the power play after Matt Capponi was called for tripping but Providence couldn’t equalize despite landing six shots on goal during the man-advantage.
– Merrimack took a 2-0 lead at 7:44 after a giveaway behind the Providence net led to a Ryan Leibold shorthanded goal.
– Nick Poisson answered at 10:30 with a shorthanded goal to cut the Warrior lead to 2-1. Austen May lobbed a pass up to Riley Duran for an odd-man rush, Duran slipped a behind-the-back pass to Poisson who beat Borgiel under the crossbar.
– Merrimack re-gained the lead at 3:53 of the third period as Jordan Seyfert beat Svedebäck with a backhander on the short side.
– Providence scrambled to find the equalizer in the closing minutes, but Borgiel and the Warriors closed out the contest with timely saves and shot blocks.
– The Friars suffer their first loss in 12 Hockey East games to begin the season (6-1-5).

PC GAME HIGHS
Goals: Poisson, Schimek (2)
Assists: Duran (2)
Points: Duran (2)
Shots: Crozier, May (4)

POWER PLAYS
Providence – 1/4
Merrimack – 0/6

SHOTS
Providence – 26
Merrimack – 15

UP NEXT
The Friars will be idle until Dec. 30-31 when they begin the second half of the 2022-23 season at the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H. Providence will face-off against Yale on Dec. 30 before matching up against either Merrimack or Dartmouth on Dec. 31.

Categories: Sports

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