ORONO — The Merrimack College Warriors stayed alive Saturday night and forced a third and decisive game in their best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series against the University of Maine.
Late second-period goals 20 seconds apart by Jeff Velleca and Rhett Bly broke open a close game and gave the Warriors a well-deserved 5-2 victory at Alfond Arena.
The teams will decide the series Sunday night at 7.
The Warriors amped up their physical play following Friday’s 2-1 loss and won the majority of the puck battles while limiting Maine’s time and space with the puck.
The Warriors also got under the skin of the Black Bears which led to a penalty-filled contest.
The two teams combined for 184 penalty minutes. Merrimack had 26 penalties for 98 minutes and Maine was assessed 86 penalty minutes on 24 infractions.
The teams set a Hockey East Tournament record for penalties and penalty minutes.
Matt Mangene’s shorthanded goal staked Maine to a 1-0 lead but Bly answered 1:48 later and Josh Myers gave Merrimack the lead for good at the 13:33 mark with a power play goal..
Velleca extended the lead with 2:05 remaining in the second period and Bly added his second to give the Warriors a comfortable cushion.
Adam Shemansky scored a five-on-three power play goal with 11:57 remaining in the third period but Maine was unable to convert the ensuing five-on-four power play that spanned 1:39 and it also failed to convert on two full two-minute power plays later in the period.
Dan Kolomatis added an empty-net goal.
Maine’s power play, which was second best in the country entering the game, went 1-for-8 and is now slumping to the tune of a 1-for-13 showing in the last three games.
Merrimack improved to 18-11-7 while Maine is now 21-12-3..
Velleca’s crucial goal to make it 3-1 came off a rebound of a point shot.
He was able to muscle his way across the top of the crease and tuck it between Dan Sullivan’s left skate and the post.
Kyle Bigos and Simon Demers had assists.
Bly then provided the Warriors with a three-goal cushion as he scored with a backhander through a crowded goalmouth from the low slot., Elliott Sheen and Kolomatis had assists.
Shemansky gave the Bears some life with 11:57 remaining as he was positioned at the edge of the crease and jammed .a Joey Diamond rebound past Cannata.
But the Bears couldn’t get any closer as the Warriors did a nice job on the penalty kill.
Mangene opened the scoring with a rush down the left wing and a low wrist shot from the left circle past Cannata..
But Bly answered by collecting a Jordan Heywood rebound, pulling the puck back into a better shooting position and flipping it into the exposed net.
Myers scored off a face-off to the left of Sullivan and his snap shot from a difficult angle beat Sullivan.
Merrimack outshot Maine 37-30.
“They played a good, solid road game,” said Maine senior center and co-captain Brian Flynn.
Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said his team “got the puck low, grinded it out and made (Maine) play defense. We got pucks to the net and competed for the whole 60 minutes.”
Wow, what a proper beatdown by Merrimack. Maine looked like a high school team, and a bad one at that. Couldn’t get in the slot; couldn’t keep MC out of the slot. Not enough shots taken; too many shots given up. Cannatta gave up no rebounds; Sullivan gave up rebounds that lead to 4 goals. Too many penalties, including 3 by Diamond, including a 5 MM and a 10M game disqualification. Good grief where is the discipline Timmay?!!??
Now UMO is sitting at the dreaded 12th slot in PWR and the West Coast games are just finishing up. Love to hear all the Timmay lovers like Mickey Hart, woodsway and others explain this one??
The season is one game…tomorrow night
Timmy looks ripped in that photo……that’s how to lay down the law coach!!
The picture of the Merrimack fan is a little insulting. I think it’s funny that the abbreviation for Merrimack College is “MC”, the same two letters that begin McDonald’s, where most of them will be working
Do you really think McDonald’s is that hard up?
Yeah, let’s not be insulting McDonalds. Its my kind of place!
Tim Whitehead should wait till Monday morning for his next request for a lifetime contract.
if there was ever a time for a coach to get thrown out to fire up his team it was tonight, much like in baseball when coaches get thrown out to show he still has some life in him unlike his players, tonight was the night. maine better find its A game that got them sweeps over BU and BC
Whitehead just stood there and took the shaft.
184 penalty minutes….yes 184 in a college hockey game! Come ON…..some of them were pretty crappy calls Ill say, like the matching ones 11 seconds into the game…I mean the first period took 50 minutes? And another thing about penalty minutes before I go on….Abbott 6 penalty minutes during the entire season….20 tonight? ummmm…something doesnt add up there guys!
Anyhow, Merrimack did exactly what they needed to do, get out and under the skin of Maine, and Maine allowed them to do that in there home arena….it was quick sick to here that corner of the crowd chant “this is our house, this is our house”, come on fans, dont allow that kind of stuff in Alfond! So besides the skaters out skating us, the 200 fans out did us in the stands as well, come ON! Though, I wasnt impressed by those fans from Merrimack singing the national anthem out of sink with the singer…pretty rude Id say.
But, anyhow…..I was proud of how Parker and Higgins played tonight, but the rest just gotta step up….play smart and lets win this series tomorrow night!
The best part of tonight….Id have to say at least the teams ahead of Maine in the pairwise, and those others right behind them are at least winning there series, and not allowing the lower seeds to upset them….gotta have a silver lining someplace, right?
I still believe….not sure about anyone else, but we knew it wasnt going to be a easy series, right everyone? Go BlackBears!
The Merrimack boobs were probably liquored up in good shape. The most surprising aspect of your comment on the national anthem was that they knew the words at all.
Rumor has it they left beer cans in their section after they left and will not be allowed back tomorrow.
Let’s hope so.
That is why it is a rumor. Unless Maine wants to be sued they better have evidence that all the fans they are keeping out were the ones who had the beer cans.
Should ALL Maine fans be denied entry to the Arena if they find some beer cans in one of their sections?
They have that whole section who else could it be?
Actually, now the word is that MC has 4 more buses leaving at 1 for game 3, which is from their twitter feed. So, expect more MC fans as we can’t even sell out our own barn. Thanks, Tim!
To my knowledge there were just Misconducts given and no Disqualifications which seems like a miracle for Maine. As others have mentioned, MC game plan was obvious and it seemed a little bush league. I can understand getting under a teams skin but they were taking some extremely cheap shots. Diamond puts a solid hit on a guy behind the nights, he ensues by wrapping his hands around Diamond’s throat from behind him and somehow MC ended up with a 5 min power play out of it. The Big Brawl in the corner was a nasty cross check to Mangene’s throat. The worst part of this is that Maine ended up actually looking like they made out well because MC ended with more penalties which it was obvious when the game was out of hand the refs were trying to make it look more even on the scoresheet. Really need to hope Maine does not let this bush league hockey we saw tonight get in their heads and we can see a real hockey game tonight instead of the rebirth of the movie SLAPSHOT.
What I do not understand on that Diamond play was, when the dude from Merrimack was choking him the ref had called them both for penalties. And then after, Diamond grabbed his face mask. The only penalty that Diamond received was a face mask. So what was the call that had him going to the box in the first place?
The mc fans were totally CLASSLESS on Friday night as well. I was sitting directly in front of them with my 6 year old when they started calling and chanting as–ole, as–ole, at Swavely after his 5 minute major. They stopped after I covered his ears and then asked them if they were going to continue being ignorant…..
We were told that night that someone donated a lot of money so that all they paid was $20 for the bus ride, tickets, and hotel rooms for the weekend. They brought 3 or 4 buses up. They should be thrown out for drinking and disgracing the National Anthem!
Oh my god, will people stop complaing about their fans. IT’S A DAMN HOCKEY GAME. Everybody is supposed to be rowdy. That’s the point. UM fans are too nice and need to be like other hockey fans. Merrimack’s fans are awesome.
Singing the NATIONAL ANTHEM out of sync is awesome? You must be one of them…
Have you been to a hockey game anywhere else but Alfond? This is the norm at most hockey games. At least they’re not ignoring it by singing. Usually, I’m uptight but UM fans need to loosen up.
UMaine fans are, by far, the classiest fans I’ve ever seen anywhere. They don’t resort to obscenities like the fans at most places. Instead, they use clever and humorous cheers, chants and taunts that are equally effective and yet show respect to the families and kids present. I’m very proud that Maine fans are not “the norm”.
Rowdy yes. 200 people chanting a swear word in unison, uncalled for. It is a college game not the NHL. As a parent, fan and taxpayer for this state university I should be able to bring my family to a game and not have to deal with this ignorance and lack of situational awareness.
My son idolizes this team and has probably been to more games than many of those mc fans, has never had to ask me what that word means that the people are cheering…….
A lot of disappointing things tonight:
1. Maine didn’t skate hard in the 2nd period – they hung their heads after giving up the 3rd goal – which cost them the game. If they play with the heart and determination they had in the 3rd period, tomorrow night, they should be all set.
2. The refs control, or lack thereof, of the game was just ridiculous. From the get-go they were feeding into Merrimack’s game plan. Hats off to Merrimack for executing it as well as they did. It was clear that their mission tonight was to get under the skin of Maine’s first line, specifically Diamond, Flynn, and Abbott, and it worked. Maine certainly didn’t help themselves out at times; however, the refs played a critical part in letting this plan unfold. I think everyone in the Alfond tonight knew there was going to be a fight before the end of the game. Sure, people can say the players should have kept their cool, or Whitehead should have had more control over his time. But really it was the refs who fostered that environment. Instead of having matching penalties, take the Merrimack kid to the box for the hit/nudge after the whistle, but that didn’t happen. It was a victory for Merrimack every time there was a matching penalty and one of Maine’s top scorers sat in the penalty box as well.
3. The way the Merrimack fans acted during the National Anthem was a disgrace. I think it’s great that they are there. It creates a great, playoff environment. And I’m okay with people singing the National Anthem out loud. However, they were obnoxious as they “sang” and did not sing it with respect.
It was nice to see Whitehead show some character tonight and get fired up a bit. We knew this would be a hard fought series and I look forward to the battle tomorrow night. I hope every Maine player comes to play and skates hard for 60 minutes. I have confidence that if they come ready to play – ready to play their game and not Merrimack’s game – they will win and head off to Boston!
I agree with your assessment. Tonight will be about playing hard and showing discipline. Maine did not play the game they played on Friday. To Merrimacks credit they came with a plan Saturday and executed it to a T. Maine did not adjust.
The Merrimack fans singing during the national anthem was one of the most disrespectful things I have witnessed ever at a sporting event. They embarrassed themselves, their school and our country with their behavior. Disgraceful.
Let’s play hard and win tonight and move on to Boston. We are the better team. Let’s show it. Go Blue.
last night was disgusting..with so much on the line sat,night..and this is the way they played..nothing short of EMBARRASSING!!!!!!!!FIRE WHITEHEAD first thing monday morning…..looks like some people are blaming refs,merrimack fans,come on people we know whos fault it was..Blackhead, blockhead whatever the F that jerks name is better be gone after tommorrow
i have been trying to tell people for years… DO NOT REUP on your season tickets
do not donate to the end of the year banquet, do not go to the golf tournament, do not join friends of maine hockey… not until the high paid state employee is shown the door.
who is the dolt on here who thinks that the silent majority of Maine fans supports whitehead, while maine cannot even sell out the arena for a playoff game, and they allow the away team to have a whole section of seats?
there is support!
Merrimack had more fans at that game at Alfond, then they ever had at a home game 5 years ago.
Good job dennehy,
and congrats timmy!
(oh and for those of you who don’t know your history… it was whitehead who complained about how loud the foghorn was after Maine goals… the fog horn that Shawn walsh LOVED)
Huh? Merrimack had 200 fans or so at the game Friday and Saturday night.
which team in recent memory has had that many fans in Alfond? Which team brought up another bus for Sundays game? Why are they able to get seats? What happened to a sold out Alfond? Heck I used to have to stand in line for hours to get standing room, now, place is empty and opposing fans are taking up whole sections.
I have never seen anything like it. This is the stuff WE do to other teams.
oh yeah..im not done yet..sorry!how many goals off rebounds is sullivan going to let in before he holds on to that dam puck..wouldnt be so bad if maine had some or any good defensemen to clear.
I’ve said all season that Sullivan IS NOT a DI goalie and some of the Timmay lovers disagreed. But, last night we see what I’m talking about. Rag on the refs all you want, but this game came down to three things:
1) Sullivan gave up too many juicy rebounds which lead to 4 MC goals.
2) UMO could not solve the MC defense which was perfectly positioned in the slot and the passing lanes all night long.
3) Maine had absolutley no discipline, allowing itself to get drawn into all these matching penalties where Maine’s top players went off along with MC’s worst players.
To all you Timmay-lovers out there – these are the same issues Maine has had for 5 YEARS NOW. Tim Whitehead must go immediately after UMO is done for the season, which is likely about 9:30 pm tonight.
They are going to the NCAA tourney. But as a 4 seed if they lose tonight.
you pointed out 3 issues… which boil down to
1. coaching
2. coaching and
3. coaching
sounds like it was all joey diamond’s fault
How can you say it was Joey D’s fault?
sarcasm is sarcastic
Hard to call this “sport.”
Discretion is the better part of valor boys. You need to walk away and not take their bait and play YOUR game! They are totally taking you guys out of sync by stopping play and putting the top line in the box and the refs are totally falling for it as well……………… Merrimack knows you are the better team so they are trying to steal this series by playing dirty. 4 total combined penaltys last weekend with UNH; hate to say it but they are a team and coaching staff with way more class than mc…
Play hard, play smart tonight boys! GOooooooo Blue!!!
alternatively, you adjust your game and not keep trying to do the same ole, same ole… it ain’t working
even if UMO loses they will be in the NCAA tourney. Relax everyone
Looking at the Pairwise, maybe not. Anyway, if they lose tonight, they don’t deserve to be in.
They are in. NMU is 17th and they lost to last place BG and didn’t even make the CCHA quarterfinals. Notre Dame is 18th and they too are done. Nobody else is going to make up the difference. Maine’s PWR number is 20 while the next team behind Notre Dame is at 11.
Maine certainly deserves to go the NCAA’s as they are one of the 16 best in the country. Maine is 21-12. The 17th place team in the PWR is 17-14. It would just be nice to reach the HE Final. Then they might be able to stay in the East for the regional.
don’t you need to be top 15 in the pairwise though because of the atlantic hockey automatic bid?
Relax?
Winning Hockey East would do wonders for their seeding and the location of their NCAA tourney games. If you think Maine is heading out West as a 4 seed is something to relax about, go ahead and kick back back but I think most people would prefer a 2 seed in the EST time zone.
I’d prefer to see Maine play in Worcester or Bridgeport. But I guess you are down with the going to St. Paul or Green Bay and playing Ferris State in the first round.
Good to see the old Joey Diamond is back. When the chips are down, count on JD for major penalties and thuggery. Pretty good chance a team with JD on it will never win anything.
The thugs play for Merrimack.
every team needs a JD….thats like saying any team with a Brad Marchand on them will never win anything…
Not even sure where to start on commenting about last night’s game…..Maine allowed themselves to be pulled down and into MC’s game. They repeatedly took our first line off the ice, and we couldn’t stop retaliating. To get back another team for cheap shots, you need to be on the ice not sitting in the box. I agree they were playing dirty, and the refs didn’t know how to make a call without making it a matching penalty but IF Maine had a coach that was in charge and taking on the refs and standing up for HIS team than perhaps the players would have played with more determination. Joey Diamond is routinely beaten up on, and never backs down from a physical opportunity, 2 things happened right in front of me and the official last night, Joey was placed in a choke hold from the rear, how can it be a matching penalty when he has his back to the other guy, and the other was Joey in frustration bull dozing into a pile up along the boards when MC was trying to freeze the puck there. There are no excuses for the lack of play last night, the lack of shots on goal, and the lack of control of the officiating. Hope they all got it out of their systems because we need to BRING it tonight! Let’s rock the Alfond tonight and show the entire Hockey East community what Maine is made of! GO BLUE!!!
Everyone at the game should send an email to the HE leadership.Maine beatdown MC in fri nites contest of skills and energy. MC responds with the ” Hanson Brothers” on Sat nite and the On Ice officials bought it . What a disgrace to HE
I heard the Commish was in a closed door meeting with the refs directly after the game. Even had a officer standing guard outside the door.
Can anyone tell me if it is standard procedure to have different ref’s at each playoff game or was there an issue that caused us to end up with Bendetto?
Maine better win tonight. Abbott and Flynn need to put the puck in the net.
I hear you….hopefully they can realize the strategy of an inferior team and avoid the nonsense penalties that Merrimack’s play baited them into. Those guys are much more effective on the ice than in the box. Would hate to see their season come to an end over foolishness.
The team looked hungover.
Go Blue
Yesterday is Done.
Beat Merrimack into pudding!
Sheen is a convicted felon for Merrimack, or at least he should be.