Men’s Hockey: Top-Ranked Terriers Downed By Merrimack

By: Dan Shulman

The Boston University Terriers reign at the top lasted under 36-hours before they were defeated by the Merrimack Warriors in North Andover, Massachusetts on Tuesday, 3-1.

BU started off the game strong, asserting their dominance with a goal inside the first five minutes of the game. Chad Krys collected a pass in the high slot and sent a screaming wrister off the post and into the net to beat Warriors’ goalie Collin Delia.

Nearly twelve-and-a-half minutes later, Merrimack got an equalizer thanks to Mathieu Tibbet. The forward took a shot from the right faceoff circle in the Merrimack zone, beating LaCouvee low for Tibbet’s fourth of the year.

The Terriers’ special teams, which had been riding a high through much of their eight-game win streak, faltered mightily at Merrimack. The Warriors power play burned BU for two goals, both with defenseman John MacLeod in the penalty box.

The game-winner came late in the second period as Logan Coomes knifed his way through the slot to tip a Jared Kolquist’s shot past Connor LaCouvee to give the Warriors a lead. Early in the third, Hampus Gustafsson made the most of a failed clearance by BU. Gustafsson grabbed a loose puck at the side of the net before throwing a backhander off the back of LaCouvee and into the net.

The Terriers showed some resiliency but had great difficulty getting passes to connect tape-to-tape. In the last five minutes, BU picked up their shot output. But with the goalie pulled for the final three minutes, the Terriers couldn’t complete the comeback, especially with Clayton Keller in the penalty box for a diving infraction.

BU will seek redemption from Merrimack when the series shifts to Agganis Arena on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.