NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — Minnesota State went back and forth with Merrimack Friday evening, but it was the Warriors that were able to come away with the 4-3 win in overtime.
With the loss, MSU drops to 0-3-0 o the season. With the win, MC improved to 1-1-1 on the season.
The Mavericks began the first period on a power play after Merrimack was given a delay of game penalty for taking too long to clear the ice after warmups.
Luigi Benincasa put a shot on net during the man advantage, but MC was able to kill off the penalty.
Merrimack built pressure through the middle of the first period, forcing
Raiden LeGall into several saves before Caelan Fitzpatrick scored at 11:35 from Ty Daneault and Seamus Powell to put the Mavericks behind 1-0.
Ean Somoza answered less than four minutes later, scoring at even strength off assists from
Will Skahan and
Reid Morich to tie the game 1-1. The Mavericks generated several later chances in the period, including
Jacob Conrad hitting the pipe at 17:09, but the first period ended tied 1-1.
In the second period the Mavericks had to absorb an early Merrimack push, as Nick Pierre's even-strength goal from Justin Gill and Nathan King put the Warriors ahead 2-1 at 18:05. After
Sawyer Scholl was called for holding at 14:48, LeGall made four saves during the Merrimack power play before the Mavericks returned to even strength at 12:48.
The Mavericks then turned the pressure back toward the Merrimack end near the midpoint, with
Sam Court hitting the pipe before
Mason Kraft scored off Benincasa's assist at 8:28 to tie the game at 2-2. The push continued through a run of Mavericks chances as
Liam Watkins scored from
Alex Zetterberg at 4:49 to give the Mavericks a 3-2 lead that held through the end of the second period.
Merrimack put early pressure on the Mavericks in the third period, and LeGall made saves on Ethan Beyer and Ty Daneault before Pierre scored his second of the game at 14:18 off assists from Trevor Hoskin and Justin Gill to make it 3-3. The Mavericks worked through the middle of the period without another goal against, then killed off
Sam Court's hooking penalty as LeGall stopped shots from Pierre and Caelan Fitzpatrick during Merrimack's power play. The Mavericks pushed back late with a series of attempts in the final two minutes, including two Scholl shots saved by Linards Feldbergs, but the third period ended with the game tied 3-3.
Overtime began with the Mavericks winning two faceoffs through
Jakob Stender, and Benincasa blocked a Merrimack shot before Morich sent a shot wide. At 3:13, Caden Cranston scored for Merrimack off assists from Trevor Hoskin and Austin Oravetz to secure the 4-3 overtime win for the Warriors.
LeGall finished the game with 30 saves, as the Warriors outshot the Mavericks 34-20. MSU killed off both of its penalties, while MC killed off the lone MSU power play in the opening minutes of the game.
Minnesota State wraps up its weekend series with Merrimack on Saturday. Puck drop is scheduled for 5:00 p.m. (CST) at Lawler Arena.
