Completed Event: Men's Ice Hockey at Merrimack on November 15, 2025 , Loss , 2, to, 3
Men's Ice Hockey
at Merrimack
Final
2
-
3
Providence College Athletics
Friday, December 7
North Andover, Mass. | Lawler Rink
7:00 P.M.
Providence College
at
Merrimack
Photo by: Rich Gagnon
No. 10 Men's Hockey Closes Out First Half at Merrimack on Friday
12/6/2018 12:14:00 PM | Men's Ice Hockey
The Friars conclude the first half of the regular season at Merrimack on Friday night.
FOLLOW THE FRIARS (8-4-3, 5-2-1 HEA)
Matchup: No. 10 Providence College vs. Merrimack College (4-10-1, 2-6-0 HEA)
Faceoff: 7:00 PM (Fri.) – Lawler Rink – North Andover, Mass.
TV: NESN
Stream: NESNgo.com | TSN Direct
Radio: NewsRadio 104.7 FM | TuneIn Radio | Friars.com | Play-by-play: Mike Logan
Live Stats: MerrimackAthletics.com
Twitter: @Friarshockey
TALKING POINTS
- The Friars rallied from a 1-0 third period deficit with three goals in the final 9:01 of play to top New Hampshire, 3-1, at the Whittemore Center last Saturday.
- Vincent Desharnais finally broke through for the Friars at 10:59 with his first goal of the season and first since Jan. 20, 2017 at UMass Lowell.
- Freshman Jay O'Brien got on the board with his first career goal with 2:32 remaining to put the Friars up 2-1. O'Brien took a long-distance feed from Brandon Duhaime and walked in all alone to beat Robinson high to the glove side.
- With the Wildcat net empty, Greg Printz drew a holding call on Max Gildon and Providence cashed in as Spenser Young tallied his fifth goal of the season with 1:14 remaining.
- Hawkey turned away 22-of-23 shots, including a brilliant breakaway stop on Brendan van Riemsdyk to keep the one-goal deficit early in the third period.
- Brandon Duhaime and Scott Conway each posted two assists on Saturday night.
- Providence won 38-of-78 faceoffs and out-attempted the Wildcats 56-44.
- The Friars snapped a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) with the win on Saturday night.
- The comeback marked the first time the Friars rallied from a third period deficit to win a game since March 16, 2018 against Northeastern in the Hockey East Semifinals.
- Freshmen Michael Callahan and Jay O'Brien were named to the U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster on Wednesday. They'll take part in a pre-tournament camp to vie for a roster spot on Team USA for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships in British Columbia.
- Ten players have posted at least two points against Merrimack in two games this season. Jack Dugan leads with five points, while Kasper Björkqvist has a team-high three goals against the Warriors this season.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Providence (NCAA Rank) 2018-19 Merrimack (NCAA Rank)
3.40 (11th) Goals Per Game 2.13 (47th)
2.00 (T-5th) Goals Against Average 3.73 (54th)
34.9 (5th) Shots Per Game 25.7 (51st)
16-75 (.213) (15th) Power Play 12-76 (.158) (44th)
71-83 (.855) (12th) Penalty Kill 59-77 (.766) (49th)
.527 (14th) Faceoff % .451 (55th)
SERIES HISTORY VS. MERRIMACK
• Providence and Merrimack conclude their three-game season series on Friday night at Lawler Rink.
• The Friars claimed both meetings back in mid-November by a combined score of 14-7, scoring seven goals each night.
• All-time, the Friars are 36-17-7 on the road against the Warriors.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• The Warriors are coming off a light schedule over the past two weeks, playing just two games over that span - a 2-2 draw vs. Holy Cross on Nov. 23 and a 9-1 setback at Northeastern on Nov. 30.
• In goal, Craig Pantano has posted a 3.16 GAA and .994 save percentage in 14 games played this season. Pantano has surrendered 11 goals over two goals against the Friars this season.
• Junior Tyler Irvine leads the Warriors with 12 points on five goals and seven assists, while defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic follows up with nine points on three goals and six assists.
• The match-up marks the final meeting this season between the Friars and former Associate Head Coach Scott Borek, who took over the reins of the Merrimack program after the departure of Mark Dennehy.
DUGAN NAMED HOCKEY EAST ROOKIE OF THE MONTH IN BACK-TO-BACK MONTHS
Freshman Jack Dugan was named Hockey East Rookie of the Month for the second-consecutive month in November after posting a league-best nine points, four goals and five assists. He's just the second Friar all-time to be named Hockey East Rookie of the Month twice in one season (Jon Gillies, 2012-13).
BALANCED SCORING
Seventeen different players have scored the Friars' 51 goals through 15 games. Overall, 20 players have recorded at least one point this season.
LEAMAN TWO SHY OF 300 CAREER WINS
Head Coach Nate Leaman sits two wins shy of 300 wins as a Division I Head Coach. 160 of his 298 career wins have come at Providence.
ELEVEN GAMES TO AIR ON NBC SPORTS BOSTON
Providence College Athletics announced that NBC Sports Boston, the broadcast home of the Boston Celtics will televise 11 men's hockey home games during the 2018-19 season. Eight of the 11 games will be shown live, while the remaining three games with be tape delayed following the conclusion of Celtics coverage.
ALL GAMES TO AIR LIVE ON NEWSRADIO 104.7 FM
Beginning with the 2018-19 hockey season, all Friars men's hockey games, in addition to all pregame and postgame network programming will be carried live on NewsRadio 104.7 FM. The agreement also includes 10 editions of the Nate Leaman Coaches Show that will air throughout the season. Mike Logan, who is entering his 24th season as the voice of the Friars, will call all the live action this season on 104.7 FM. Logan also will host the Nate Leaman Coaches show on 104.7 FM.
HAWKEY REBOUNDS
Goaltender Hayden Hawkey rebounded with a strong performance against the Wildcats last weekend, stopping 45-of-47 shots over two games. His 56 career wins rank third all-time at Providence and sits nine wins shy of setting the program record of 64 (Mario Proulx '84). His .649 winning percentage ranks second all-time behind Proulx (.699).
YOUNG TOPS HOCKEY EAST IN PLUS/MINUS
Junior defenseman Spenser Young tops all Hockey East players with a +13 rating, including a +11 rating in eight league games.
BJORKQVIST, BRYSON, AND DESHARNAIS LEAD THE FRIARS
Juniors Kasper Björkqvist and Jacob Bryson were named captains for this season, while senior defenseman Vincent Desharnais was named an alternate captain.
SCHNEIDER SUCCESS
The current group of seniors have dominated at Schneider Arena over the last three-plus seasons, going 44-8-6 over that span (.816).
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
The Friars are 136-12-14 all-time under Nate Leaman when scoring three or more goals in a game.
AFTER 40
The Friars are 127-5-11 all-time under Nate Leaman when holding a lead after two periods.
UP NEXT
The Friars will have three weeks off before resuming the regular season at the Ledyard Bank Classic hosted by Dartmouth from Dec. 29-30.
For more updates on the Providence College men's hockey program, follow the team on Twitter @FriarsHockey.
Matchup: No. 10 Providence College vs. Merrimack College (4-10-1, 2-6-0 HEA)
Faceoff: 7:00 PM (Fri.) – Lawler Rink – North Andover, Mass.
TV: NESN
Stream: NESNgo.com | TSN Direct
Radio: NewsRadio 104.7 FM | TuneIn Radio | Friars.com | Play-by-play: Mike Logan
Live Stats: MerrimackAthletics.com
Twitter: @Friarshockey
TALKING POINTS
- The Friars rallied from a 1-0 third period deficit with three goals in the final 9:01 of play to top New Hampshire, 3-1, at the Whittemore Center last Saturday.
- Vincent Desharnais finally broke through for the Friars at 10:59 with his first goal of the season and first since Jan. 20, 2017 at UMass Lowell.
- Freshman Jay O'Brien got on the board with his first career goal with 2:32 remaining to put the Friars up 2-1. O'Brien took a long-distance feed from Brandon Duhaime and walked in all alone to beat Robinson high to the glove side.
- With the Wildcat net empty, Greg Printz drew a holding call on Max Gildon and Providence cashed in as Spenser Young tallied his fifth goal of the season with 1:14 remaining.
- Hawkey turned away 22-of-23 shots, including a brilliant breakaway stop on Brendan van Riemsdyk to keep the one-goal deficit early in the third period.
- Brandon Duhaime and Scott Conway each posted two assists on Saturday night.
- Providence won 38-of-78 faceoffs and out-attempted the Wildcats 56-44.
- The Friars snapped a three-game winless streak (0-1-2) with the win on Saturday night.
- The comeback marked the first time the Friars rallied from a third period deficit to win a game since March 16, 2018 against Northeastern in the Hockey East Semifinals.
- Freshmen Michael Callahan and Jay O'Brien were named to the U.S. National Junior Team preliminary roster on Wednesday. They'll take part in a pre-tournament camp to vie for a roster spot on Team USA for the 2019 IIHF World Junior Championships in British Columbia.
- Ten players have posted at least two points against Merrimack in two games this season. Jack Dugan leads with five points, while Kasper Björkqvist has a team-high three goals against the Warriors this season.
TALE OF THE TAPE
Providence (NCAA Rank) 2018-19 Merrimack (NCAA Rank)
3.40 (11th) Goals Per Game 2.13 (47th)
2.00 (T-5th) Goals Against Average 3.73 (54th)
34.9 (5th) Shots Per Game 25.7 (51st)
16-75 (.213) (15th) Power Play 12-76 (.158) (44th)
71-83 (.855) (12th) Penalty Kill 59-77 (.766) (49th)
.527 (14th) Faceoff % .451 (55th)
SERIES HISTORY VS. MERRIMACK
• Providence and Merrimack conclude their three-game season series on Friday night at Lawler Rink.
• The Friars claimed both meetings back in mid-November by a combined score of 14-7, scoring seven goals each night.
• All-time, the Friars are 36-17-7 on the road against the Warriors.
SCOUTING THE WARRIORS
• The Warriors are coming off a light schedule over the past two weeks, playing just two games over that span - a 2-2 draw vs. Holy Cross on Nov. 23 and a 9-1 setback at Northeastern on Nov. 30.
• In goal, Craig Pantano has posted a 3.16 GAA and .994 save percentage in 14 games played this season. Pantano has surrendered 11 goals over two goals against the Friars this season.
• Junior Tyler Irvine leads the Warriors with 12 points on five goals and seven assists, while defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic follows up with nine points on three goals and six assists.
• The match-up marks the final meeting this season between the Friars and former Associate Head Coach Scott Borek, who took over the reins of the Merrimack program after the departure of Mark Dennehy.
DUGAN NAMED HOCKEY EAST ROOKIE OF THE MONTH IN BACK-TO-BACK MONTHS
Freshman Jack Dugan was named Hockey East Rookie of the Month for the second-consecutive month in November after posting a league-best nine points, four goals and five assists. He's just the second Friar all-time to be named Hockey East Rookie of the Month twice in one season (Jon Gillies, 2012-13).
BALANCED SCORING
Seventeen different players have scored the Friars' 51 goals through 15 games. Overall, 20 players have recorded at least one point this season.
LEAMAN TWO SHY OF 300 CAREER WINS
Head Coach Nate Leaman sits two wins shy of 300 wins as a Division I Head Coach. 160 of his 298 career wins have come at Providence.
ELEVEN GAMES TO AIR ON NBC SPORTS BOSTON
Providence College Athletics announced that NBC Sports Boston, the broadcast home of the Boston Celtics will televise 11 men's hockey home games during the 2018-19 season. Eight of the 11 games will be shown live, while the remaining three games with be tape delayed following the conclusion of Celtics coverage.
ALL GAMES TO AIR LIVE ON NEWSRADIO 104.7 FM
Beginning with the 2018-19 hockey season, all Friars men's hockey games, in addition to all pregame and postgame network programming will be carried live on NewsRadio 104.7 FM. The agreement also includes 10 editions of the Nate Leaman Coaches Show that will air throughout the season. Mike Logan, who is entering his 24th season as the voice of the Friars, will call all the live action this season on 104.7 FM. Logan also will host the Nate Leaman Coaches show on 104.7 FM.
HAWKEY REBOUNDS
Goaltender Hayden Hawkey rebounded with a strong performance against the Wildcats last weekend, stopping 45-of-47 shots over two games. His 56 career wins rank third all-time at Providence and sits nine wins shy of setting the program record of 64 (Mario Proulx '84). His .649 winning percentage ranks second all-time behind Proulx (.699).
YOUNG TOPS HOCKEY EAST IN PLUS/MINUS
Junior defenseman Spenser Young tops all Hockey East players with a +13 rating, including a +11 rating in eight league games.
BJORKQVIST, BRYSON, AND DESHARNAIS LEAD THE FRIARS
Juniors Kasper Björkqvist and Jacob Bryson were named captains for this season, while senior defenseman Vincent Desharnais was named an alternate captain.
SCHNEIDER SUCCESS
The current group of seniors have dominated at Schneider Arena over the last three-plus seasons, going 44-8-6 over that span (.816).
THREE IS THE MAGIC NUMBER
The Friars are 136-12-14 all-time under Nate Leaman when scoring three or more goals in a game.
AFTER 40
The Friars are 127-5-11 all-time under Nate Leaman when holding a lead after two periods.
UP NEXT
The Friars will have three weeks off before resuming the regular season at the Ledyard Bank Classic hosted by Dartmouth from Dec. 29-30.
For more updates on the Providence College men's hockey program, follow the team on Twitter @FriarsHockey.
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