The O-Zone

Merrimack Football Kicks Off 2011 Season Tonight

Warrior Field at Merrimack College hosts Merrimack vs. WPI tonight at 7 p.m.

College football is back in North Andover. Tonight at 7 p.m., Merrimack hosts Worcester Polytechnich Institute. The Warriors finished 4-6 last season, ranked fifth in the Northeast-10 Conference. This year, the Warriors are ranked third out of nine teams in the conference's annual preseason coaches poll.  Merrimack head coach John Perry is in his fourth year as Merrimack's head coach and has a 17-13 career record with the team. Perry  is the brother of Andover High School football coach E.J. Perry.  Perry is only two years removed from winning the Northeast-10 Championship back in 2009.  The team runs an exciting shotgun, no-huddle offense. Their defense is a 3-4 base. The 3-4 defense is looking to improve after allowing an average of 34.7…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (5)

Jay Oza

11:47 pm on Saturday, September 3, 2011

Warriors won 60-3. Check out the story tomorrow   more ›

Merrimack Unveils 2011-12 Home Hockey Schedule

Season tickets are on sale now.

The following was submitted by Merrimack College Athletics. See the attached PDF for the Warriors' 2011-12 home schedule.    Following the most successful season in Merrimack’s Division I history, Merrimack has released the 2011-12 home hockey schedule and season ticket packages for the 16 game schedule at Lawler Arena. Season tickets start as low as $295 for adults and $195 for youths and seniors. A limited number of Blue Line Club memberships, which include preferred center-ice seating, VIP parking, a buffet dinner for all home games, and access to away game tickets, are also available for purchase. For the first time, Merrimack is also sponsoring a faculty and staff special season ticket price of $80 for preferred reserved seating. Fans…

• Documents (1)

Merrimack Star Stephane Da Costa Headed to NHL

The sophomore, who has led the Warriors in scoring for two straight years, is going pro.

Good news for the Ottawa Senators, sad news for Merrimack College: Stephane Da Costa is headed north of the border. Merrimack College’s top scorer for two consecutive years and the offensive force behind the Warriors’ best season in team history signed a two year deal with the Ottawa Senators yesterday. The superstar college player will forego his junior and senior years at Merrimack to play in the National Hockey League. Da Costa was looking to get ice time. He was flexible in terms of dollars, but the sophomore wanted nothing more than to play right away. At age 21, Da Costa had NHL teams visiting North Andover in each of his two seasons with Merrimack. He offered up a shot at the pros to come back to Merrimack for his sophomore season. …

• Photos (1)

The O-Zone

Merrimack Coach Honored, Players Sign with NHL Affiliates

Mark Dennehy was named All-New England Coach of the Year for the second consecutive season; Merrimack seniors Chris Barton and Joe Cucci sign contracts.

Merrimack College hockey coach Mark Dennehy led the Warriors to 25 wins this season, a record for the school’s Division 1 history. Yesterday Dennehy was announced All-New England Coach of the Year. It was the second consecutive season Dennehy was awarded the honor. Dennehy lead the Warriors to other historic feats this season such as advancing to the team’s first ever Hockey East Final. With a convincing 4-1 victory against UNH at TD Garden, the Warriors advanced into uncharted waters. In the Hockey East Final, however, Merrimack fell 5-3 at the hands of the Boston College Eagles. Dennehy led Merrimack to its first NCAA Tournament in 23 years. In a stunning comeback, Notre Dame took down the Warriors 4-3 in a first round overtime thriller…

•  1 Comment
• Photos (5)

Jay Oza

10:25 am on Thursday, March 31, 2011

Dennehy received another honor today; he was named College Hockey News' Co-Coach of the Year.   more ›

Season in Review: Merrimack Warriors Set Records, Won Over Fans, and Made History

Merrimack set all kinds of records this season; North Andover Patch takes a look at some of the top games of the 2010-11 season.

The Merrimack College Warriors may have suffered a shocking and heartbreaking loss to end their season on Saturday, but let us not forget that their season was one for the books. The Warriors in 2010-11 were quite simply the best in team in the school's history. Merrimack was able to set new school records in home wins, road wins, and sellouts. Rather than dwelling on the unfortunate end to the Warriors’ season, let’s take a look at the team’s best home wins and sellouts. After all, a packed Lawler Arena seemed to do a number on tough opposition from Boston College, Boston University, UNH, and Maine.   Home Wins Merrimack was absolutely incredible at their home rink of Lawler Arena. They were close to unbeatable. The Warriors accumulated …

• Photos (5)
• Videos (4)

Merrimack's Marvelous Season Ends in Catastrophe

The Warriors relinquished two separate two goal leads and fell 4-3 in overtime to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.

Merrimack College’s best season in school history ended in catastrophe last night at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester. The Warriors, who held two goal leads on two occasions, gave up three unanswered goals and relinquished a seemingly inevitable Elite Eight berth to the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Merrimack went up 3-1 in the second period on freshman Rhett Bly’s swift goal through the legs of Notre Dame goalie Mike Johnson. Before long, the Warriors found themselves in sudden death overtime after a poor third period. The Merrimack Warriors woke up from their third period slumber to dominate the first five minutes of the overtime period. The Warriors peppered shots on net to no avail despite completely regaining the momentum. …

• Photos (5)

BREAKING: Merrimack Falls in Manchester

Merrimack's season ended Saturday with a 4-3 defeat by Notre Dame in sudden death overtime.

In their own back yard, the Merrimack College Warriors lost their chance at the Elite Eight Saturday night. The Warriors were defeated 4-3 in sudden death overtime by Notre Dame Fighting Irish at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester, N.H., after an intense game. The game started off in Merrimack's favor, as Warriors captain Chris Barton, who missed all of the Hockey East Playoffs at TD Garden with a hip injury, was seen skating during the pre-game warm-ups. The Warriors started out strong, taking the lead and running with it. But things turned sour in the third period when Notre Dame started hammering away at the Warriors and the Warriors just couldn't get their mojo back in time to save the night. Merrimack was able to skate out the …

• Photos (1)

The O-Zone

ROAD TO THE FROZEN FOUR: Merrimack Set for Fighting Irish Showdown

Two of the top 10 teams in the nation battle on Saturday in Manchester in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Verizon Wireless Arena, known to some as “The Big V,” will host Merrimack College’s first NCAA Tournament game in 23 years. Saturday night in Manchester, the Warriors will face off against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame in the first round of the 16-team tournament. The winner of Saturday night’s showdown will play the winner of the Saturday afternoon game, Miami of Ohio or the University of New Hampshire. The two succeeding teams will do battle on Sunday night with a berth in the NCAA Frozen Four on the line. This year’s Frozen Four is slated to get underway on April 7 at the Xcel Entergy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota. Merrimack was fortunate to be scheduled into the Manchester bracket, as the other four regional brackets are located…

• Photos (1)