NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – With eight freshmen on the roster, Merrimack kicked off its 2015-16 campaign with a 4-1 victory over St. Francis Xavier of Canada in an exhibition game on Saturday.
“Any time you put the shirt on your back you want to win. That’s our mindset and I thought we were successful at that,” Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said. “We have a lot to work on, but we also have a lot to work with.”
The first period was tightly contested and very physical as well. Merrimack took the body early, generating a lot of body contact. That led to Merrimack’s first goal, when freshman Derek Petti was fed a puck by linemate Chris LeBlanc and buried a shot through the arm and pad of Drew Owsley.
The X-Men were able to muster up six shots on goal in the first period but came short of a goal. The Merrimack defense blocked nine shots in the opening period to help keep St. Francis Xavier off the board.
The second period was a little different from the first. Both teams came out with fire and were able to generate some good offensive looks. The X-Men had a near breakaway from Michael Clarke that was denied by the facemask of Merrimack goaltender Colin Delia. Owsley was able to match Delia when he robbed Ludvig Larsson of a goal as he moved right to left to make a pad stop.
Larsson got one back when he corralled the puck in front of the crease and put it up over Owsley’s glove to give Merrimack a 2-0 advantage at the halfway point of the game.
The game’s final period saw a flurry of goals to open it up. Warriors senior Ben Bahe was fed a pass from linemate Hampus Gustafsson and went forehand, backhand over Owsley to put Merrimack up 3-0.
Just minutes later Brett Seney jammed a loose puck in to give Merrimack a four-goal advantage.
St. Francis Xavier’s Kristoff Kontos got on the scoreboard late, tucking the puck under the arm of Drew Vogler.
