Late Goal Downs Women's Ice Hockey at #6 Boston College Friday, 1-0
Links: Box Score
CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Despite a 37-save effort in net for freshman goaltender Léa-Kristine Demers (Repentigny, Quebec) against the second-best offense in the nation, the Merrimack College women's ice hockey team was downed by a goal with less than three minutes remaining as the Warriors fell all #6 Boston College by a score of 1-0 on Friday afternoon.
The Basics
Score: #6 Boston College 1, Merrimack 0
Records: Merrimack (8-15-2, 4-12-0 HEA) | #6 Boston College (15-3-4, 11-2-2 HEA)
Location: Conte Forum | Chestnut Hill, Mass.
How It Happened
- Demers would be challenged early and often by the second-best offense in the nation, making 14 saves in the first period alone to open the game with a scoreless first frame. Those 14 saves would include a huge point-blank save on a shorthanded breakaway chance for the Eagles in the latter half of the first to keep Boston College from getting an early wave of momentum.
- Merrimack struggled to rack up shots against the Eagles, seeing its best chance of the opening period also come on a shorthanded chance, as sophomore Katelyn Rae (Courtice, Ontario) would force a turnover to create a 2-on-1 opportunity, but saw her shot turned aside.
- Though the Warriors' shots would remain at a premium in the second period, the Navy and Gold would make the best of the chances they would get. With Demers remaining a rock in net in the second, recording another nine saves in the period, Merrimack would find a spark late in the frame. Sophomore Paige Voight (St. Michael, Minn.) would get a quality power play chance, carrying the puck around a defender an in close, but was denied on a toe save while trying to tuck it around the goaltender.
- Freshman Mikyla Grant-Mentis (Brampton, Ontario) would look to give the Warriors the lead with seconds remaining in the middle period after making a slick move by a defender to go in on the Eagles net alone. Grant-Mentis would skate in and make a move at the crease with just four seconds remaining, but again saw another standout save from one of the top goaltenders in the country in Katie Burt.
- Merrimack would again lean on its rookie goaltender in the third period, as Demers would post another double-digit save frame to keep the game scoreless through the first 17 minutes of the period. The Warriors would nearly get on the board late in the third on a scrum in front of the Eagles' net, but another highlight save from Burt followed by a goal-saving blocked shot by a laid out Eagles defender would deny Merrimack the late lead.
- With just 2:30 remaining, the Eagles would score the first goal of the game on their final shot, a hard one-timer to the top left corner that just cleared Demers' shoulder. The eventual game-winner would deny Merrimack a chance at a mammoth upset.
Inside The Numbers
- Demers 37-save effort ranks just two saves shy of the rookie's career-high of 39, a total she reached twice this season. It's her third-most saves in a game this year and marks her sixth 30-save effort.
- The Warriors are just the third team all season to hold the sixth-ranked Eagles to less than two goals in a game (Boston University, Quinnipiac).
- Goaltenders: L – Demers (5-11-0, 37 saves) | W – Burt (13-3-4, 12 saves)
- Power Plays: Merrimack (0-2) | BC (0-4)
- SOG: MC – 12 | BC - 38
Up Next
The Warriors return to the ice tomorrow afternoon to close out the weekend series with the #6 Eagles at Lawler Rink. Puck drop is set for 1:00 p.m.
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