2023–24 Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey season

Add links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

2023–24 Merrimack Warriors
men's ice hockey season
Turkey Leg Classic, Champion
Conference10th Hockey East
Home iceJ. Thom Lawler Rink
Rankings
USCHONR
USA TodayNR
Record
Overall13–21–1
Conference6–16–1
Home7–9–1
Road6–12–0
Coaches and captains
Head coachScott Borek
Assistant coachesDan Jewell
Chris Ross
Captain(s)Ben Brar
Alternate captain(s)Mac Welsher
Merrimack Warriors men's ice hockey seasons
« 2022–23 2024–25 »

The 2023–24 Merrimack Warriors Men's ice hockey season was the 69th season of play for the program, the 35th at the Division I level, and the 35th in Hockey East. The Warriors represented Merrimack College, played their home games at the J. Thom Lawler Rink and were coached by Scott Borek, in his sixth season.

Season[edit]

Coming off of its first NCAA tournament appearance in twelve years, Merrimack entered the year with some expectations for its program. Though the team had lost several depth players to graduation, the Warriors returned the top three forwards as well as both of their starting goaltender. However, just before the opening game, Alex Jefferies was injured in practice and missed the first month of the season.[1] Without their leading scorer, the team was unable to do much offensively against Arizona State but the Warriors soon recovered and posted three solid wins to finish out October.

Once Jefferies returned in early November, the team was hoping to continue their upwards trend but the goaltending gave out. Over a six-game stretch, Merrimack lost four 1-goal games with neither netminder finding much consistency. The Warriors recovered a bit over Thanksgiving, winning two matches against weak Atlantic Hockey teams, but ended the first half of their season with three consecutive losses. Both Zachary Borgiel and Hugo Ollas were struggling to keep the puck out of the net and coach Borek had no option but to hope at least one of his goaltenders would recover their form from '23.

Merrimack was able to pick itself up after the winter break when Borgiel strung three solid games together and lifted the Warriors record back to .500. Ollas joined in to help earn a split against #13 Massachusetts in the middle of January, however, Jefferies went back on the shelf after the second match and was out of the lineup for three weeks. Merrimack lost every game that their top forward missed and when he returned the team was well and truly out of the race. Borgiel's play had also degraded to the point that the goaltending rotation was ended in mid-February with Ollas taking over for the remainder of the season. Merrimack was able to salvage what was left of their season and play even in the final few weeks but that only saved the team from finishing last in the standings.

With an abysmal record in conference, the Warriors were going to have to run through a gauntlet of strong teams if they wanted to reach the tournament once more. However, the team was unable to surmount even their first challenge. Northeastern shut down the Merrimack offense, blacking the team for the first time since the opening game and swiftly ended the Warriors' season.

Departures[edit]

Player Position Nationality Cause
Will Calverley Forward  Canada Graduation (signed with Florida Everblades)
Tristan Crozier Forward  Canada Graduation (signed with Tulsa Oilers)
Slava Demin Defenseman  United States Graduation (retired)
Hugo Esselin Forward  Sweden Graduation (retired)
Filip Karlsson Tägtström Forward  Sweden Signed professional contract (Tyresö/Hanviken)
Ryan Leibold Forward  United States Graduation (signed with South Carolina Stingrays)
Ottoville Leppänen Forward  Finland Graduation (signed with Orlando Solar Bears)
Mick Messner Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Utah Grizzlies)
Kevin Sadovski Defenseman  United States Left program (retired)
Jordan Seyfert Forward  United States Graduation (signed with Kalamazoo Wings)

Recruiting[edit]

Player Position Nationality Age Notes
Liam Cavan Defenseman  Canada 21 Gloucester, ON
Michael Citara Forward  United States 21 New Hope, PA; transfer from Providence
Ty Daneault Forward  Canada 18 Red Deer, AB
Frank Djurasevic Defenseman  United States 21 New Rochelle, NY
Brady Hunter Forward  Canada 21 Enfield, NS
David Sacco Forward  United States 21 Middleton, MA
Max Wattvil Defenseman  Sweden 21 Stockholm, SWE
Luke Weilandt Forward  United States 21 Northbrook, IL

Roster[edit]

As of September 26, 2023.[2]

No. S/P/C Player Class Pos Height Weight DoB Hometown Previous team NHL rights
1 Sweden Hugo Ollas Junior G 6' 8" (2.03 m) 253 lb (115 kg) 2002-04-24 Linköping, Sweden Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell) NYR, 197th overall 2020
2 Ohio Christian Felton Senior D 6' 1" (1.85 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-02-04 Medina, Ohio Bentley (AHA) —
4 Massachusetts Mike Brown Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 202 lb (92 kg) 2001-04-03 Belmont, Massachusetts Youngstown (USHL) —
5 Florida Trevor Griebel Sophomore D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2001-03-07 Tampa, Florida Fargo (USHL) —
7 Sweden Max Wattvil Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2002-08-11 Stockholm, Sweden Minnesota (NAHL) —
8 Ontario Liam Dennison Graduate D 5' 9" (1.75 m) 178 lb (81 kg) 1999-02-07 Manotick, Ontario Youngstown (USHL) —
9 Nova Scotia Brady Hunter Freshman F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 174 lb (79 kg) 2002-07-27 Enfield, Nova Scotia Trail (BCHL) —
10 Newfoundland and Labrador Mark Hillier Junior F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-03-18 Labrador City, Newfoundland and Labrador Summerside (MHL) —
11 Ontario Devlin O'Brien Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2002-04-05 Toronto, Ontario Penticton (BCHL) —
13 British Columbia Chase Stevenson Graduate F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1999-01-13 West Kelowna, British Columbia New Hampshire (HEA) —
14 Massachusetts Tyler Young Sophomore F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2001-05-08 Lancaster, Massachusetts Maryland (NAHL) —
15 Massachusetts Mark Gallant Graduate F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 185 lb (84 kg) 2000-05-01 Concord, Massachusetts Dartmouth (ECAC) —
16 Russia Nikita Borodayenko Sophomore F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 2002-06-17 Dmitrov, Russia Dubuque (USHL) —
17 Michigan Mac Welsher (A) Graduate F 5' 8" (1.73 m) 182 lb (83 kg) 1999-04-24 Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan Des Moines (USHL) —
18 British Columbia Ben Brar (C) Graduate F 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 1998-11-19 Abbotsford, British Columbia Prince George (BCHL) —
19 Massachusetts Alex Jefferies Senior F 6' 0" (1.83 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2001-11-08 Lunenburg, Massachusetts The Gunnery (USHS–CT) NYI, 121st overall 2020
20 British Columbia Ethan Bono Freshman F 6' 3" (1.91 m) 201 lb (91 kg) 2004-01-15 Port McNeill, British Columbia Alberni Valley (BCHL) —
21 Massachusetts Matt Copponi Junior F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 165 lb (75 kg) 2003-06-04 Mansfield, Massachusetts Dexter Southfield (USHS–MA) EDM, 216th overall 2023
22 Pennsylvania Michael Citara Junior F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 160 lb (73 kg) 2002-04-22 New Hope, Pennsylvania Providence (HEA) —
23 New York (state) Frank Djurasevic Freshman D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 198 lb (90 kg) 2002-03-09 New Rochelle, New York Penticton (BCHL) —
24 Massachusetts David Sacco Freshman F 6' 1" (1.85 m) 194 lb (88 kg) 2002-01-03 Middleton, Massachusetts Alberni Valley (BCHL) —
25 Illinois Luke Weilandt Freshman F 5' 10" (1.78 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 2002-04-04 Northbrook, Illinois Wenatchee (BCHL) —
26 Sweden Ivan Zivlak Junior D 6' 2" (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) 2002-08-08 Gislaved, Sweden Linköping J20 (J20 Nationell) —
27 Sweden Adam Arvedson Junior D 5' 11" (1.8 m) 169 lb (77 kg) 2001-08-30 Karlstad, Sweden Färjestad (J20 Nationell) —
28 Sweden Filip Forsmark Graduate F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 177 lb (80 kg) 1998-06-23 Skövde, Sweden Tri-City (USHL) —
29 Michigan Zachary Borgiel Senior G 6' 2" (1.88 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 2000-04-27 Fort Gratiot, Michigan Cowichan Valley (BCHL) —
37 New York (state) Zach Bookman Sophomore D 5' 10" (1.78 m) 175 lb (79 kg) 2002-03-29 Syracuse, New York Brooks (AJHL) —
43 Alberta Ty Daneault Freshman F 5' 11" (1.8 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2004-12-20 Red Deer, Alberta Drumheller (AJHL) —

Standings[edit]

2023–24 Hockey East Standings
Conference record Overall record
GP W L T OTW OTL SW PTS GF GA GP W L T GF GA
#1 Boston College †* 24 20 3 1 1 0 1 61 105 56 39 33 5 1 179 87
#2 Boston University 24 18 4 2 1 1 1 57 104 53 39 28 9 2 162 95
#6 Maine 24 14 9 1 0 1 0 44 76 67 37 23 12 2 119 94
#16 Providence 24 11 9 4 3 1 2 37 66 58 35 18 13 4 100 83
#13 Massachusetts 24 12 10 2 4 2 0 36 57 62 37 20 14 3 108 105
#19 New Hampshire 24 12 11 1 1 0 0 36 69 56 36 20 15 1 106 90
Northeastern 24 9 14 1 1 3 0 30 65 71 36 17 16 3 113 97
Connecticut 24 9 14 1 1 1 1 29 49 77 36 15 19 2 90 105
Vermont 24 7 14 3 1 0 3 26 52 81 35 13 19 3 87 106
Merrimack 24 6 17 1 0 1 1 21 62 85 35 13 21 1 98 114
Massachusetts Lowell 24 4 17 3 1 4 0 18 39 78 36 8 24 4 72 113
Championship: March 23, 2024
† indicates regular season champion
* indicates conference tournament champion (Lamoriello Trophy)
Rankings: USCHO Division I Men's Poll; Updated: April 1, 2024

Schedule and results[edit]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Decision Result Attendance Record
Exhibition
October 7 2:00 pm Sacred Heart* #14 Martire Family Arena • Fairfield, Connecticut (Exhibition) FloHockey Borgiel W 3–2 OT 307
Regular Season
October 13 9:00 pm at Arizona State* #15 Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona   Borgiel L 0–1 OT 4,680 0–1–0
October 14 7:00 pm at Arizona State* #15 Mullett Arena • Tempe, Arizona   Ollas L 2–4  4,569 0–2–0
October 20 7:00 pm Clarkson* J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel W 4–1  2,947 1–2–0
October 22 4:00 pm St. Lawrence* J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas W 5–2  2,087 2–2–0
October 28 4:00 pm at #18 Northeastern Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel W 4–1  2,132 3–2–0 (1–0–0)
November 3 7:00 pm #20 Maine J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 1–2  2,438 3–3–0 (1–1–0)
November 4 7:00 pm #20 Maine J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 4–5  2,189 3–4–0 (1–2–0)
November 10 7:00 pm at Connecticut Toscano Family Ice Forum • Storrs, Connecticut ESPN+ Ollas W 6–3  2,630 4–4–0 (2–2–0)
November 11 7:00 pm Connecticut J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 3–4  2,432 4–5–0 (2–3–0)
November 15 7:00 pm Massachusetts Lowell J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+, NESN Borgiel T 1–1 SOW 2,576 4–5–1 (2–3–1)
November 18 7:00 pm at Massachusetts Lowell Tsongas Center • Lowell, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 2–3 OT 4,867 4–6–1 (2–4–1)
Turkey Leg Classic
November 24 4:00 pm Army* J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts (Turkey Leg Game 1) ESPN+ Borgiel W 7–3  2,034 5–6–1
November 25 4:00 pm Bentley* J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts (Turkey Leg Game 2) ESPN+ Ollas W 4–3  1,547 6–6–1
December 1 7:30 pm #4 Boston University J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 1–4  2,734 6–7–1 (2–5–1)
December 2 7:00 pm at #4 Boston University Agganis Arena • Boston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 2–5  5,747 6–8–1 (2–6–1)
December 8 7:00 pm at Yale* Ingalls Rink • New Haven, Connecticut ESPN+ Ollas L 2–5  1,116 6–9–1
December 29 7:00 pm at Brown* Meehan Auditorium • Providence, Rhode Island ESPN+ Borgiel W 5–1  610 7–9–1
December 31 2:00 pm Stonehill* J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel W 3–2  2,038 8–9–1
January 2 7:00 pm at Holy Cross* Hart Center • Worcester, Massachusetts FloHockey Borgiel W 4–3 OT 714 9–9–1
January 12 7:00 pm at #13 Massachusetts Mullins Center • Amherst, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 3–4  3,734 9–10–1 (2–7–1)
January 13 7:00 pm #13 Massachusetts J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas W 4–1  2,537 10–10–1 (3–7–1)
January 19 7:00 pm #2 Boston College J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 4–6  2,674 10–11–1 (3–8–1)
January 21 1:00 pm at #2 Boston College Conte Forum • Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts ESPN+, NESN Ollas L 2–6  6,640 10–12–1 (3–9–1)
January 26 7:00 pm at Northeastern Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 3–5  2,421 10–13–1 (3–10–1)
January 27 7:00 pm Northeastern J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 1–4  2,647 10–14–1 (3–11–1)
February 2 7:00 pm #11 Massachusetts J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Borgiel L 2–3  2,314 10–15–1 (3–12–1)
February 3 7:00 pm at #18 New Hampshire Whittemore Center • Durham, New Hampshire ESPN+ Ollas L 1–3  5,080 10–16–1 (3–13–1)
February 9 7:00 pm at #3 Boston University Agganis Arena • Boston, Massachusetts ESPN+, NESN Borgiel L 1–7  5,404 10–17–1 (3–14–1)
February 10 7:00 pm #17 New Hampshire J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas W 3–1  2,639 11–17–1 (4–14–1)
February 16 7:00 pm at Vermont Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont ESPN+ Ollas W 5–2  2,270 12–17–1 (5–14–1)
February 17 7:00 pm at Vermont Gutterson Fieldhouse • Burlington, Vermont ESPN+ Ollas L 1–4  2,565 12–18–1 (5–15–1)
February 29 7:00 pm #10 Providence J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 2–4  1,832 12–19–1 (5–16–1)
March 1 6:00 pm at #10 Providence Schneider Arena • Providence, Rhode Island ESPN+ Ollas W 2–1  2,017 13–19–1 (6–16–1)
March 9 7:00 pm #1 Boston College J. Thom Lawler Rink • North Andover, Massachusetts ESPN+ Ollas L 4–6  2,747 13–20–1 (6–17–1)
Hockey East Tournament
March 13 7:00 pm at Northeastern* Matthews Arena • Boston, Massachusetts (Opening Round) ESPN+ Ollas L 0–4  1,254 13–21–1
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from USCHO.com Poll. All times are in Eastern Time.
Source:[3]

Scoring statistics[edit]

Name Position Games Goals Assists Points PIM
Matt Copponi C 30 7 25 32 48
Zach Bookman D 33 4 24 28 30
Alex Jefferies LW 22 13 10 23 19
Ty Daneault RW 34 13 8 21 33
Mark Hillier F 35 7 12 19 2
Ben Brar F 35 5 14 19 20
Filip Forsmark LW/RW 35 5 13 18 25
Michael Citara RW 31 6 9 15 6
Mac Welsher C 30 4 9 13 18
Frank Djurasevic D 35 4 6 10 26
Ethan Bono F 29 6 3 9 10
Liam Dennison D 35 2 7 9 10
Devlin O'Brien LW 30 3 5 8 24
Christian Felton D 26 3 4 7 4
Trevor Griebel D/F 19 2 4 6 6
Luke Weilandt F 23 3 2 5 6
Mark Gallant F 33 2 3 5 23
Chase Stevenson F 15 4 0 4 10
Adam Arvedson D 21 1 3 4 2
Max Wattvil D 24 2 1 3 14
Ivan Zivlak D 24 1 2 3 4
David Sacco RW 18 1 1 2 23
Brady Hunter C 11 0 2 2 2
Nikita Borodayenko F 12 0 1 1 4
Tyler Young RW 12 0 1 1 25
Steven Bacovsky G 1 0 0 0 0
Zachary Borgiel G 16 0 0 0 2
Hugo Ollas G 22 0 0 0 2
Total 98 169 267 412

[4]

Goaltending statistics[edit]

Name Games Minutes Wins Losses Ties Goals Against Saves Shut Outs SV % GAA
Hugo Ollas 21 1162:53 7 12 0 55 540 0 .908 2.84
Zachary Borgiel 17 921:36 6 9 1 50 405 0 .890 3.26
Empty Net - 25:28 - - - 9 - - - -
Total 35 2109:57 13 21 1 114 945 0 .892 3.24

Rankings[edit]

Main article: 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey rankings
Poll Week
Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 (Final)
USCHO.com 14 15 NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR - NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR – NR
USA Today 12 13 NR 20 20т NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR^ NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Note: USCHO did not release a poll in weeks 11 and 25.[5]
^USA Today did not release a poll in week 12.

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Jefferies will miss opening weekend for Merrimack". The Mack Report. October 13, 2023. Retrieved April 19, 2024.
  2. ^ "2023-24 Merrimack College Men's Ice Hockey Roster". Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved September 26, 2023.
  3. ^ "2023-24 Merrimack College Men's Ice Hockey Schedule". Merrimack Warriors. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  4. ^ "Merrimack College 2023-2024 Skater Stats". Elite Prospects. Retrieved March 7, 2020.
  5. ^ "USCHO Division I Men's Poll". USCHO.com. Retrieved November 26, 2019.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=2023–24_Merrimack_Warriors_men%27s_ice_hockey_season&oldid=1219730297"