By: Josh Brown & Dan McLoone
BOSTON – After scoring just four goals in their last three games, Northeastern coach Jim Madigan wanted to see his team adapt a more aggressive mindset this weekend against Merrimack.
On Friday night, the Huskies did just that. Behind goals from John Picking, Nolan Stevens and Lincoln Griffin, No. 12 Northeastern (8-6-1, 6-3-0) skated away with a 3-1 win over the Warriors in front of 1,686 fans at Matthews Arena.
Cayden Primeau got the start in net for Northeastern, making 28 saves on the evening.
John Picking opened the scoring just under eight minutes into the game, redirecting a Garrett Cecere slapshot into the bottom corner of the net for a 1-0 lead. Nolan Stevens doubled the lead three minutes later, tipping home a Dylan Sikura wrister from the blue line.
After being held to four shots in the first period, the Merrimack offense got going right out of the gates in the second. The Warriors doubled their shot tally in the opening two minutes, and kept the Huskies on their heels throughout the period while taking 17 shots. Lincoln Griffin canceled out all momentum that the Warriors seemed to have by poking home a rebound in the crease with 2:38 left in the period to make it 3-0.
Merrimack had its best opportunity at the halfway mark of the third period, after Matt Filipe was assessed a five-minute major for charging the goalie. Although Cole McBride beat Primeau 2:24 into the five-on-four, the Warriors could not score a crucial second goal to cut the deficit to one and the Huskies were able to run out the clock for the rest of the period.
Northeastern will be back in action on Saturday night when they take on the Warriors at Lawler Arena in North Andover. Josh Brown and Kyle Williams will have the call, with pregame coverage beginning at 6:45 p.m.
https://soundcloud.com/joshua-brown-462337903/madigan-after-merrimack