Freshman defenseman Ethan Spaxman’s first collegiate goal proved to be the game-winner as Merrimack defeated Boston University, 4-3.
Ben Bahe factored in the other Merrimack goals, leading the scoring with a goal and two assists.
The Warriors seized an early 2-0 first-period lead, saw BU draw even midway through the second, and then scored twice in the span of 63 seconds to earn the win.
“I’m still shaking,” Spaxman said after the game. He then recounted the game-winner. “Jace Hennig passed back to me and I had all the time to walk in. I don’t think I could have gotten any closer before I shot. I had [Michael] Babcock in front screening the goalie, and it had some eyes.”
Merrimack remains undefeated (3-0-2), with four of a possible six points in league play against seventh-ranked Massachusetts-Lowell last weekend and now eighth-ranked BU.
“We didn’t play great today, but we played well enough,” Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said. “It’s good for a team to win and not play its best.
“Four days from now, nobody’s going to remember whether we played well or not. It’s going to be about us getting points. It’s a hard league to get points in. Points in October are just as important as points in February.”
For BU, it was a second straight road loss, although one in which it played considerably better than in its preceding 5-2 loss at Connecticut.
“Obviously you want to win hockey games, but there’s so much to like in what we did tonight,” BU coach David Quinn said. “One minute of the game cost us. They got two four-on-four goals [even though] we should be pretty good four-on-four.
“We’re finding ways to lose right now. The good news is it’s October.”
Senior goaltender Sean Maguire, who was sidelined last season with a severe concussion, struggled, allowing four goals on just 14 shots.
“He missed a full year of hockey,” Quinn said. “He’s a great goalie. I’m sure he would have loved to have played better, but we have to do a better job in front of him. We’re a work in progress.”
Merrimack stormed out of the gate, dominating the early play. Before the game was 10 minutes old, the Warriors led, 2-0.
They grabbed a lead just 48 seconds into the contest. Brett Seney skated in on the left wing and put a shot past Maguire into the upper far corner.
After striking out on a power play, they extended the lead to two goals at 9:26 when Marc Biega worked the puck through to the left side of the net and Bahe jammed it in.
BU rallied with considerably stronger play in the latter half of the period and then carried that over into the second, scoring twice to make it 2-2 and anyone’s game. On the first goal, the Terriers moved the puck around the perimeter until defenseman John MacLeod rifled a shot in from the right point. The second came off Matt Lane’s stick as he moved in through the slot and, while heavily guarded, got off a low backhander that snuck past Collin Delia, a goal the sophomore no doubt wanted to have back.
Six minutes later, though, Merrimack retook the lead and then extended it to 4-2 during four-on-four play, first with a Hampus Gustafsson goal on a two-on-two and then Spaxman’s game-winner.
The two goals chased Maguire from the BU nets. Sophomore Connor LaCouvee replaced him.
BU defenseman Brandon Hickey got the Terriers back to within one with a shot from the left point at 4:04 of the third period, but they would get no closer.
