Eagles Sweep Merrimack in Gritty 2-1 Win

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Boston College earned its first sweep of the season with early scoring a great defense down the stretch, hanging on to win a 2-1 thriller on Saturday night at Merrimack.

Junior defenseman Casey Fitzgerald opened the scoring for the Eagles at the 9:41 mark of the first period but Merrimack's Sami Tavernier tied it up at 14:47.

The tie game did not last long as freshman forward Christopher Grando notched his first-career game-winning goal 63 seconds after MC's tying marker.

The Eagle defense stood tall down the stretch as sophomore goaltender Joseph Woll posted two-consecutive starts allowing only one goal. The St. Louis native stopped 26-of-27 shots faced. Woll was ejected with 1.6 seconds left in regulation for an incident after the whistle.

Second-year netminder Ryan Edquist stepped in and made a huge stop as Merrimack won the draw in BC's end and managed to get a shot on net.

SCORE
Boston College – 2 / Merrimack – 1

LOCATION
Lawler Rink / North Andover, Mass.

RECORDS
Boston College (3-5-1 | 3-1-0 HEA) / Merrimack (1-6-2 | 1-3-0 HEA)

BC HIGHLIGHTS & GAME NOTES
- Christopher Grando scored his first-career game-winning goal early in the contest at 15:50. The Islip, N.Y. native is now tied for the team lead in goal scoring with Casey Fitzgerald and Christopher Brown, having scored his third tally of the season.

- Casey Fitzgerald netted his third goal of the season and first since his overtime winner at Providence with the Eagles' first tally midway through the first period.

- Aapeli Rasanen notched his first-career multi-point performance my doling out a pair of assists on Saturday night at Merrimack. The Tampere, Finland native now has four helpers on the year.

- After scoring his first goal of the season against Merrimack on Friday night, Jesper Mattila returned to the score sheet with an assist on Casey Fitzgerald's tally to open Saturday's scoring. It mark's Mattila's first point streak since a three-game tear from Oct. 16-22, 2016.

- Boston College's penalty kill stopped all five Merrimack opportunities in Saturday's victory.

GOAL DESCRIPTIONS
FIRST GOAL (1-0 – Boston College) FIRST PERIOD – Casey Fitzgerald – 9:41 – EVEN STRENGTH
• Boston College struck first with a long-range blast from Casey Fitzgerald midway through the first period. Aapeli Rasanen generated the play, sliding the puck over to Jesper Mattila on the left wall. Mattila faked a shot and dispensed the puck back up to Fitzgerald just within the blue line. With a bunch of traffic in front of Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano, Fitzgerald rifled a shot through to the back of the net at 9:41 of the first period for a 1-0 lead.

SECOND GOAL (1-1 – Merrimack) FIRST PERIOD – Sami Tavernier – 14:47 – EVEN STRENGTH
• The Warriors tied things up at 14:47 of the first period in transition. Johnathan Kovacevic sent the puck out of Merrimack's end out to Brett Seney streaking down the right side of the sheet. Seney made a great pass through the seam to Sami Tavernier and before Joseph Woll could shift sides, Tavernier already had the puck in the net to knot it up, 1-1.

THIRD GOAL (2-1 – Boston College) FIRST PERIOD – Christopher Grando – 15:50 – EVEN STRENGTH
• The Eagles reclaimed their lead almost a minute later on a beautiful transition goal finished off by Christopher Grando. Rasanen was the original catalyst, skating the puck quickly through the neutral zone down the ride side and dishing to his left. Logan Hutsko was in between Grando and Rasanen and Hutsko helped guide the puck over to Grando in front of Pantano. Grando tipped it underneath the goaltender's pad at 15:50 to retake a one-goal advantage, 2-1.

BOSTON COLLEGE GAME LEADERS
Points: Aapeli Rasanen (0 – 2 - 2)

Goals: Casey Fitzgerald (1 – 0 - 1) / Christopher Grando (1 – 0 - 1)

Assists: Aapeli Rasanen (0 – 2 - 2)

Shots: Michael Kim ( 5 ) / Casey Fitzgerald ( 5 )

Faceoffs Won: Aapeli Rasanen (15 – of – 20)

SPECIAL TEAMS
Boston College: 0 – for – 3

Merrimack: 0 – for – 5

PENALTIES
Boston College: 9 – for – 34

Merrimack: 6 – for – 12

BOSTON COLLEGE LINES
Cotton – Jul. Mattila – Tortora
Grando – Räsänen – Hutsko
McPhee – Brown - Dudek
Greco – Walker

McInnis – Fitzgerald
Jes. Mattila – Moore
Karow – Kim
Lohan

Woll
Edquist

UP NEXT
Boston College returns home for a mid-week matchup against Connecticut on Tuesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. before the Eagles head to Burlington for a pair at Vermont on Friday and Saturday.

Next Event

Team Stats

Aapeli Räsänen

Casey Fitzgerald

Chris Grando

Jesper Mattila

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

Ryan Edquist

Casey Fitzgerald

Chris Grando

Logan Hutsko

Michael Kim

Jesper Mattila

Joseph Woll

Players Mentioned

Christopher Brown

Ryan Edquist

Casey Fitzgerald

Chris Grando

Logan Hutsko

Michael Kim

Jesper Mattila

Joseph Woll