| Matchup |
Merrimack (11-17-3, 6-13-2 WHEA) \\
Northeastern (13-14-3, 9-10-2 WHEA) |
| Date/Time |
Sat. February 10, 2018 (7pm) |
| Venue |
Lawler Rink // North Andover, Mass. // Tickets |
| Multimedia |
Live Stats // Watch ($) // Twitter // Instagram |
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – With three regular season games remaining, the Merrimack College women's ice hockey team wraps up its home schedule on Saturday night at Lawler Rink at 7 p.m. with the Warriors hosting Northeastern in the series finale. Merrimack sits one point out of the final playoff spot behind Connecticut and Vermont.
Hockey East Playoff Picture
The top eight teams qualify for the Hockey East Tournament; seeds 1-4 host 5-8 in quarterfinal best-of-three series; bracket is then reseeded, winning teams advance to Championship Weekend at Northeastern University. Below are the conference standings with conference records (As of Feb. 9, 2018). Merrimack has three games remaining in the regular season.
1. Boston College (17-1-3, 37 points)
2. Maine (11-6-3, 25 points)
3. Providence (10-7-4, 24 points)
4. New Hampshire (8-8-5, 21 points)
5. Northeastern (9-10-2, 20 points)
6. Boston University (6-11-5, 17 points)
7. UConn (5-10-5, 15 points)
7. Vermont (6-12-3, 15 points)
9. Merrimack (6-13-2, 14 points)
Last Time Out:
- The Warriors picked up a road weekend sweep against No. 9 Providence on Friday, before taking down Vermont on Sunday.
- Against the Friars, Merrimack struck for three goals two periods thanks to Annie Boeckers, Katelyn Rae, and Mikyla Grant-Mentis. Providence cut the deficit to two late in the third period, but Jessica Bonfe scored the empty-netter to seal the road victory. Samantha Ridgewell made 38 saves in net, including 15 in the third period. Rae and Boeckers also had assists, along with Paige Voight.
- Against Vermont, the Warriors won 4-2, taking advantage on two power plays in the game. Paige Sorensen scored the eventual game-winner midway through the second period on a power play goal. Rae scored her 20th goal, a career-high for a single-season. Dominique Kremer had a pair of assists, while Andrea Olson had one helper. Ridgewell made 26 saves in net, including stopping a frenzy of shots in the final minutes of the game.
Earlier This Season vs. Northeastern
- The Warriors went 0-1-1 against the Huskies earlier this year in a home-and-home series. Northeastern took the first game on the road by a score of 2-0, before the Warriors and Huskies skated to a 1-1 tie at Lawler Rink the next day.
- Ridgewell made 29 saves in the first game. In the second game Northeastern took a 1-0 lead late in the second, before Grant-Mentis scored just over five minutes into the third to tie the game. Léa-Kristine Demers had 33 saves, including six in the overtime period.
The Warriors:
- Rae leads the team with 28 points, a new single-season program record for the Warriors. She has a team-high 20 goals to go along with eight assists.
- Grant-Mentis has 19 points on 12 goals and seven helpers, while Voight has five goals for 12 points.
- Felila Manu has eight assists on the year. Ridgewell has an 8-10-1 record, matching Demers' single-season win total from last season for most wins by a goaltender in a season.
The Huskies
- Northeastern enters the weekend with a 13-14-3 record and are 9-10-2 in Hockey East play. The Huskies have lost four of their last five games, including their most recent loss to #3/2 Boston College on Tuesday night.
- McKenna Brand has a team-high 27 points and 12 goals. She also has 15 assists. Veronika Pettey has 23 points (8g, 15a), while Kasidy Anderson and Denisa Krizova each have 22 points.
- Brittany Bugalski has played in 21 games in net, while starting 20 of them. She has posted a 9-8-1 record with a pair of shutouts and a 2.81 goals against average. The Huskies power play has converted on 22.4 % of their chances. They also have the fourth best scoring offense in league play at 2.90 goals per game.
Up Next
The Warriors head to Storrs, Connecticut to wrap up the regular season for two key Hockey East games against Connecticut. The first game is on Friday at 7 p.m., with game two having a 2 p.m. puck drop on Saturday.
