Merrimack’s 4-9-4 overall and 2-6-2 Hockey East records show there is room for improvement as the league schedule ramps up again this month, but 13th-year head coach Mark Dennehy (Dorchester, Mass.) saw positive steps and results for his team just before the end of the first semester.
The Warriors swept the second weekend of December with consecutive wins — for the first time this season — over Army West Point and New Hampshire before salvaging a 1-1 tie with Northeastern. The win at UNH was Merrimack’s first in nine road games, and coupled with a point against the Huskies, had it tied for ninth place in the league standings with UMass.
Senior Brett Seney is one of the league’s unheralded standouts. A New Jersey draftee in 2015, Seney was held without a point through three games this season, but finished the first half with four goals and 15 points in 14 games, including points in seven of the past nine.
"He’s just one of those guys," Dennehy said of Seney after the Dec. 16 tie. "When (Northeastern’s Adam) Gaudette gets the puck, I gasp a little; my guess is when Seney gets the puck with open ice, the opposing coach does the same thing. He can take people out of his seat. He’s selfless. We’ve played him at the wing, we’ve played him at center, and he’s working harder on the defensive side."
While Seney has been a productive player for his entire Merrimack career with at least 26 points in each of his first three seasons, junior goaltender Craig Pantano is finally getting a chance to shine. The Warriors lost would-be senior Collin Delia to the Chicago Blackhawks late this summer, leaving a gaping void in between the pipes, and the Bridgewater, Mass., native is sure making the most of his chance.
A product of the USPHL’s South Shore Kings, Pantano made just one appearance over his first two seasons as a Warrior before relieving classmate Drew Vogler on Oct. 27 at UMass and earning his first start and victory the following night. Since then, he has led Merrimack to all of its wins and posted a 2.38 goals-against average that ranks third in Hockey East.
"We all want instant gratification," Dennehy said. "But, he stuck with it for two years without getting much reward at all, so I’m happy for him. What I really think is great is that it should be a lesson for a lot of players; if you stick with something long enough, good things are going to happen."
THE CLASH
Northeastern vs. Providence Jan. 26, Matthews Arena, Boston, 7 p.m. Jan. 27, Schneider Arena, Providence, 7 p.m.
The Huskies and Friars finished the fall semester as two of the top three teams in Hockey East, so this home-and-home series will be crucial with postseason play following just over a month after. Six of their last nine head-to-head meetings were decided by a goal or less, including a pair of 5-4 games last season that each home team won.
THE NOTEBOOK
Northeastern junior Adam Gaudette (Braintree, Mass.) and senior Dylan Sikura entered the holiday break as the top overall scorers in Hockey East. Gaudette paced the league with 12 goals and 24 points, finishing the semester with points in five of his team’s final six games. Sikura recorded two goals and two assists, all on the power play, in the Huskies’ 5-2 win at Boston College on Dec. 9. …
Overall, the league’s top five scorers and 11 of the top 17 are NHL draft picks. Northeastern defenseman Jeremy Davies and Merrimack forward Brett Seney, who have 16 and 15 points, respectively, both represent the New Jersey Devils. …
Boston College won seven straight Hockey East games in November and eight of its first nine to take a commanding lead in the league standings, but a Dec. 16 tie at Merrimack allowed the Huskies to jump within a point of first place. …
Northeastern led Hockey East teams with a No. 8 ranking in both Dec. 11 national polls and sat a place behind No. 12 Providence at the conclusion of the first half. BC was the only only other Hockey East team above the projected NCAA tournament cut line, checking in at No. 14 in the Dec. 17 PairWise. …
The Huskies announced senior defenseman Garret Cockerill was no longer a member of the team prior to the Dec. 16 game at Merrimack, while junior forward Liam Pecararo (Canton, Mass.) will not attend Northeastern during the upcoming spring semester and plans to re-enroll next fall. …
The only 15-point scorers among the league’s freshmen were UMass forward Oliver Chau and New Hampshire defenseman Max Gildon, who both finished with seven goals and eight assists during the first semester. Boston University sophomore Chad Krys (Ridgefield, Conn.) led defensemen with 18 points in 19 games before semester’s end; two of his five goals were game-winners, both coming during league play. …
UNH dropped games to Army West Point and Merrimack during December’s second weekend, but it still led the league allowing just 2.41 goals per game. Senior Danny Tirone (Trumbull, Conn.) posted four first-half shutouts and ranked fourth in the league with 448 saves, trailing a trio of sophomores in UConn’s Adam Huska, Vermont’s Stefanos Lekkas and BU’s Jake Oettinger. The Wildcats’ 9-5-1 start was their best in five years. …
Before a Dec. 8-9 weekend series, BU and UMass-Lowell had not met with neither team ranked nationally in 10 years. The home side has now won six consecutive games in the all-time series after BU cruised to a 9-2 win in this season’s latter game at Agganis Arena. It marked the first time UML allowed nine goals since Nov. 11, 2005, against Maine.
IN THE SPOTLIGHT
Jeremy Swayman, Maine
A Bruins prospect and U.S. world juniors invitee from Anchorage, Alaska, Swayman recorded 95 saves in the Black Bears’ Dec. 8-9 sweep at Quinnipiac. He became the first Maine goaltender since February 2015 to reach the 50-save mark in the series-opening, 7-4 win before backstopping the following night’s 5-3 triumph with 45 more. Swayman entered the holiday break with a .927 save percentage, good for second in the nation among freshmen.
Eric MacAdams, New Hampshire
The freshman from Salem, Mass., recorded the first multipoint game of his collegiate career with two goals on four shots in UNH’s 4-3 loss to Army West Point on Dec. 9. A standout at Austin Prep before moving to the USHL for two years, MacAdams recorded at least one shot in nine games and was one of just three Wildcat rookies (along with drafted defensemen Max Gildon and Benton Maass) to appear in all 17 games the team played during the fall semester.
Erik Foley, Providence
Foley posted three points in both of PC’s December wins prior to the holidays, including a two-goal, one-assist effort in a 5-2, Dec. 1 win over New Hampshire. The Mansfield, Mass., native and Winnipeg Jets prospect entered the semester break tied for third in Hockey East with 21 points and as one of just three players in the league with 10 goals or more. The junior has five multipoint games on the season, all of which came during an eight-game span from Nov. 11 to Dec. 8.
THE QUOTE
‘I’ve known Coach Ceglarski since I played as a senior at Northeastern. He was a man who epitomized college hockey — very classy, a lot of dignity, won with class and lost with grace. A true icon in our sport and someone who was always willing to talk to a younger coach.’ — Northeastern’s Jim Madigan on Len Ceglarski
