THOMPSON WINS IT IN OT AT THE WHIT, 4-3
WARRIORS EDGE UNH AT HOME, 3-2

Paul Thompson’s goal with 11.1 seconds left in overtime lifted UNH to a 4-3 victory over Merrimack College on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center. The win gave the Wildcats a hard fought split in the weekend series against the ninth place Warriors and solidified their hold on first place in Hockey East. The winning goal came near the end of the extra five minutes when UNH outshot Merrimack 11-1 but could not dent Andrew Braithwaite (43 saves on the night). The sequence began in the right corner, where Phil DeSimone centered it out to Thompson in front. The junior’s first shot was blocked by Braithwaite, who then denied Bobby Butler on the rebound. With the puck still free, Thompson took a swipe at it and somehow it found its way through the maize of bodies, over Braithwaite’s shoulder and into the net.
“It came out of the scrum to me and I just threw it back on net,” Thompson said. “I don’t actually know how it went in; I think it might have hit something. I was actually trying to get a better shot off and kind of fanned on it a bit. It just stayed on the ice and I was lucky to get it in there.”

In a remarkably even game over the first 50 minutes, UNH had gotten on the board first, at 1:33 of the opening period when Peter LeBlanc backhanded a shot from down low into the open net. The play began when Mike Sislo intercepted a Merrimack clearing pass and whistled a shot which went wide past Braithwaite but caromed off the end boards to LeBlanc, who sent it home for his eight goal of the season.

The rest of the period was played at a quick pace, but both Braithwaite and Brian Foster were able to prevent any more scoring. Kevin McCarey was denied on a 2-on-1 break with Mike Borisenok, while Foster snagged a Stephane Da Costa shot as he tried to finish off a 3-on-2 rush for Merrimack. With seconds left in the period, Braithwaite picked off LeBlanc’s shot to the top corner.

UNH extended the lead to 2-0 at 1:43 of the second when Sislo one-timed a pass from Stevie Moses from the left face-off circle. The Warriors scored their first goal three minutes later, with Justin Bonitatibus scoring from in front when he corralled his own rebound and snuck it past Foster at the right post.
LeBlanc (left) then got his second of the night at 13:20, lifting the puck by Braithwaite after picking up an errant clearing attempt by the Merrimack defense. With the two goal lead reestablished, it looked like UNH might cruise to victory. But Merrimack’s Chris Barton scored two power play goals, one at the end of the second, the other early in the third to tie the game.

The first came with Greg Manz in the box for roughing. Merrimack was able to control play in the zone for the better part of a minute before Karl Stollery fed the puck down low to Barton, who beat Foster top right corner. After LeBlanc took a penalty near the end of the second period, Barton scored 42 seconds into the third to tie the game, this time taking a pass from Da Costa in the slot and firing it into the net.

UNH had plenty of chances to regain the lead in the third period, but they couldn’t solve Braithwaite. He first denied Thompson from the right face-off circle, then stymied Moses twice from the slot, stopping the initial shot with his blocker, then gloving the rebound attempt. The Wildcats got a big chance at 6:37 when Kyle Bigos was whistled off for a five minute major/game misconduct for hitting from behind. But Merrimack kept UNH at bay, limiting then to just five shots.

Down the stretch both teams had more chances, but Foster gloved Bonitatibus’ wrister from the slot with three plus minutes to go while a minute later Butler one-timed a pass from DeSimone, only to be denied by Braithwaite.

This set the stage for the overtime and Thompson’s heroics. After controlling the play for long stretches, UNH called time out when play was whistled dead in the Merrimack zone with less than a minute to go. Off the face-off, they cycled the puck until it came down low to DeSimone, then to Thompson whose goal set off a wild celebration by players and the fans, so much so that you would think that the Wildcats had won a championship. While the stakes weren’t quite that high, the outcome allowed first place UNH to maintain their five point cushion over Boston College and UMass-Amherst as they headed into a crucial series at Maine this coming weekend.

The night before, UNH could not overcome the the tight confines of Lawler Arena and the markedly improved Warriors and lost, 3-2. Defenseman Karl Stollery goal 29 seconds into the third period broke a 2-2 tie and the goal stood up for the rest of the way to give Merrimack its first win at home against the Wildcats in five years.
UNH had to go into the game with some trepidation. Despite their lofty record against Merrimack over the years, the ‘Cats have never been totally comfortable at Lawler. This season the Warriors have used the tiny rink to their advantage, losing just once (to UNH) in 10 games.

True to form, Merrimack had a decided advantage in the first period, piling up 12 shots in the first 10 minutes and taking a one goal lead. Utilizing a strategy that seems to work for them, Jeff Velleca was hanging out at the UNH blue line as the Merrimack gained control in their zone. Velleca collected an outlet pass from Stephane Da Costa, then burst in 2-on-1 with Chris Barton. Velleca shot, Foster saved, but the puck came right to Barton who banged it into the open net at 6:43.

After being frustrated for most of the first period, UNH got on the board at the start of the second. Skating 5-on-3 after two late penalties on Merrimack, Butler’s centering pass to the left of the goal deflected off Andrew Braithwaite skate and into the net just 49 seconds in.

The Warriors regained the lead at 11:17 with a power play goal by Stollery. With Dalton Speelman in the box for goaltender interference (a call highly disputed by the UNH bench), Stollery fired a shot from the left point which found its way through a screen and past Foster.

UNH was finding it pretty difficult to generate chances as Merrimack used their and the rink’s size to their advantage. But in the waning seconds of the period they struck. Pressing in the zone, Braithwaite snagged a Butler shot from the slot. But he was unable to control the puck and when it dropped to the ice, Thompson found the loose puck next to Braithwaite and tucked it in the near post for his 14th goal of the season.

After tying things up with just two and half seconds left in the second, one would think the Wildcats would use that elusive word “momentum” to carry the play in the third. But it never got to that point. Off the opening face-off, Merrimack dumped the puck into the UNH end. Da Costa forced a bad turnover by Brett Kostolansky in front of the net, and after Foster made one brilliant save off Da Costa, Stollery was there for the rebound. With that, the “momentum” went to the Warriors, who carried the play for entire period, outshooting UNH 18-8 (although the ‘Cats his three posts), to take home the victory.