NORTH ANDOVER, Mass --- Minnesota State (0-4-0) lost to Merrimack (2-1-1) 8-2 on Saturday at Lawler Arena. The Mavericks were held scoreless through the first two periods before scoring both of their goals in the third and finishing with 22 shots on goal.
Minnesota State generated early shot attempts from
Liam Watkins,
Mason Kraft and
Jack Christ, but Merrimack struck first when Caelan Fitzpatrick scored unassisted at 15:35 for a 1-0 lead. Nathan King added an even-strength goal at 12:48 off assists from Ethan Beyer and Nolan Flamand, and after an
Alex Zetterberg hooking penalty, Nick Pierre converted on Merrimack's power play at 10:28 to make it 3-0 as
Matthew Syverson replaced
Raiden LeGall in goal for the Mavericks. Caden Cranston scored at 7:40 with assists from Fitzpatrick and Ty Daneault as Merrimack carried a 4-0 lead through the end of the first period.
Merrimack added to the Mavericks' deficit immediately in the second period, with Ty Daneault scoring at 19:50 off assists from Austin Oravetz and Seamus Powell and adding another at 19:35 from Caelan Fitzpatrick and Powell to make it 6-0. Justin Gill scored at 16:08, assisted by Nick Pierre and Ethan Beyer, and LeGall re-entered in goal for Minnesota State after Merrimack moved ahead 7-0. The Mavericks had power-play chances after penalties to Mavrick Lachance at 15:52 and Connor Dale at 8:43, but attempts from
Luigi Benincasa, Zetterberg and
Rylan Bonkowski did not get Minnesota State on the board. LeGall made saves through the middle and late stages, and the Mavericks went back on the power play at :34 after matching roughing penalties plus an additional Justin Gill minor, with Benincasa and Watkins forcing Ryan Keyes saves before the horn.
Minnesota State generated the first sustained push of the third, with
Jacob Conrad hitting the pipe and then putting a shot on Ryan Keyes before Christ scored unassisted at 14:53 to make it 7-1. After a Merrimack tripping penalty ended without a Mavericks goal, Nathan King scored for Merrimack at 8:14 off assists from Jakub Hes and Mavrick Lachance to move the score to 8-1. LeGall made several saves as Merrimack pressed through the middle and late stages of the third period, and
Ean Somoza finished a Minnesota State chance at 1:45 from Kraft and
Reid Morich. The goal closed the third-period scoring, with Merrimack finishing an 8-2 win.
Christ notched his first goal as a Maverick and put up a team-high four shots on goal. Somoza converted his lone shot for his second goal of the season, while
Fin Williams won 10-of-16 faceoffs. Kraft recorded an assist, two shots on goal and one blocked shot as well.
Minnesota State continues its season next weekend with a home-and-home series against St. Thomas. The Mavericks will travel to St. Thomas on Oct. 23 for a 7:07 p.m. contest, before hosting the Tommies in a 6:07 p.m. game on Oct. 24.
