NORTH ANDOVER — After last night's 3-1 loss to UMass Lowell, Merrimack head coach Mark Dennehy could only think of one word: "Embarrassing."
"That is the most disgusted and most disappointed I've ever been in a Merrimack hockey team since I've been here," Dennehy said. "We had a team here my second year that scored 37 goals in 34 games but we were in every game because we played hard. We had guys who blocked shots and gave it up for each other."
The Warriors looked lost on all three of UMass Lowell's goals.
Michael Budd put the River Hawks on the board 11:33 into the second period when a turnover in the slot left the puck sitting in front of Merrimack goaltender Andrew Braithwaite, who had no chance corralling the wrister.
After Rob Ricci scored early in the third to tie the game at 1-1, Paul Worthington shoveled in a loose puck after Braithwaite failed to cover the puck on two consecutive swipes, and left it sitting on the doorstep with an open net.
Lowell's third goal, a power-play tally by Billerica's Kory Falite, was off a bad breakdown on the Merrimack penalty kill.
"We had 20 guys in there tonight who played like their ticket is going to be punched every game," Dennehy said. "It was like it was just one of 62 junior hockey games or one of 20 prep school hockey games, or wherever they came from. We were just cruising around. We couldn't have written a better script for Lowell tonight, from the goalie on out. That was embarrassing."
Ricci's goal, the lone tally for the Warriors, was just the team's fourth goal in its last four games. Looking for a spark in the offense, junior forward J.C. Robitaille (10 goals last season, 2 goals this season), was moved down to the third line five games ago. It's likely that some shuffling will occur again as the Warriors head north to the Whittemore Center on Saturday to face New Hampshire.
"Offense comes and goes," Dennehy said. "We had our chances tonight as bad as we played. But if we put forth an effort like that, then offense is the least of our worries. If we put forth an effort like we did tonight then offense is way down on the list of things we need to be worrying about."
The lack of offense comes from the Warriors' inability to produce high-percentage chances. In the third period, the Warriors registered just five shots on net, only of which came from within the slot (between the two faceoff dots).
"It was a pretty easy game for me to play," said Lowell goaltender Nevin Hamilton, who stopped 24 of 25 shots. "The guys did a good job keeping shots to the outside and killing some penalties. A ton of shots were blocked, especially in that third period, so it was really easy to play."
Hockey East is still up for grabs. The Warriors sit four points back of two teams for the final playoff spot (three points ahead of Providence) and the three teams above them has just one more point. But, if the Warriors don't break out of this funk soon, they'll find themselves with a hole too deep to dig out of come the turn of the year.
Dennehy had a deal with his players before the game: A win over Lowell and practice on Thanksgiving would be cancelled.
But before they even have a chance to practice on Turkey Day, they'll suffer through today's impromptu double session.
UMass Lowell 3, Merrimack 1
at Lawler Arena, North Andover
UMass Lowell (7-5-0, 5-3-0 HE):1-0-2—3
Merrimack College (3-7-2, 1-6-2 HE): 0-0-1—1
First Period: 1. UML Michael Budd 3 (David Vallorani), 11:32.
Second Period: None.
Third Period: 2. Rob Ricci 3 (Fraser Allan, Karl Stollery), ppg, 1:03; 3. UML Paul Worthington 3 (Ben Holmstrom, Patrick Cey); 4. UML Kory Falite 9 (Ben Holmstrom, Maury Edwards), ppg, 14:54.
Shots: Merrimack 9-11-5—25; Boston College 8-9-13—30
Saves: MC Braithwaite (2-7-0) 8-8-11—27; UML Hamilton (4-2-0) 9-11-4—24
Power plays: Merrimack 1 for 4 (2 shots); UMass Lowell 1 for 2 (4 shots)
Attendance: 641
Next: at New Hampshire Saturday, 7 p.m.
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