PROVIDENCE — The moment arrived quickly for Merrimack, and the Warriors didn’t waste it.
Trevor Hoskin delivered the decisive blow Saturday night, scoring 3:50 into overtime to lift Merrimack to a 3-2 victory over Providence in the Hockey East quarterfinals and send the Warriors to the semifinal round at TD Garden next Friday.
“[Gill] made such a great play on that goal,” Hoskin said. “He cut to the left and that made their D turn and gave me the time to take that shot. He made such a great play there.”
Merrimack will face UMass in the semifinals.
Providence struck first on a goal by Graham Gamache in the opening period, but the Warriors answered before the intermission. Nathan King tied the game late in the period with a power-play goal, sending the teams to the locker room even after 20 minutes.
The second period passed without a goal, setting up a tense final frame.
Merrimack seized the lead early in the third when Nolan Flamand converted on the power play just 1:00 into the period, giving the Warriors a 2-1 advantage.
Providence pushed back late. With 3:16 remaining in regulation, John Mustard redirected a pass over the shoulder of Max Lundgren, who finished the night with 34 saves, tying the game and forcing overtime.
That set the stage for Hoskin’s heroics.
After Justin Gill split the defense and drove toward the left circle, he slid a pass across to Hoskin, who snapped a wrist shot past Providence goalie Jack Parsons. The puck rang off the post and into the net, touching off a celebration for the Warriors.
The victory improves Merrimack to 19-15-2 on the season.
With the win, Scott Borek becomes the first coach in Merrimack history to guide multiple teams to the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden.
“It’s about the players,” Borek said. “It’s about our group. I couldn’t be happier for our guys.”
I’ll have much more on tonight’s game later tonight.