NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Alex Jefferies scored two goals for the Warriors as the University of New Hampshire men’s hockey team fell to Merrimack, 6-1, on Tuesday evening at Lawler Rink.

The Wildcats fall to 2-2-0 (0-2-0 Hockey East), while the Warriors improve to 2-1-0 (1-0-0 Hockey East).

Prior to the game, former UNH men’s hockey captain and Merrimack assistant coach Josh Ciocco, who recently passed away, was recognized for his contributions to both schools, programs and campuses. Both teams wore special jerseys for warmups and during the game every player had Ciocco as their name plate on their jersey.

At 7:33 of the first period, Matt Copponi fired a shot from top of the faceoff circle stick side to give Merrimack a 1-0 lead.

Then at 10:50, Merrimack increased the lead to 2-0 when Alex Jefferies found the back of the net, while Tristan Crozier Crozier scored at 12:16 to make it a 3-0 contest.

At 3:11 of the second period, Jefferies netted his second goal of the game, and then at 4:17 Will Calverley scored to make the score 5-0.

Sophomore forward Liam Devlin (Needham, Mass.) posted his team-leading fourth goal of the season when he knocked in a loose puck glove side at 4:23 of the third period to cut the Merrimack lead to 5-1. Sophomore forward Robert Cronin (Plymouth, Mass.) and senior captain forward Chase Stevenson (West Kelowna, British Columbia) each recorded an assist on the goal.

But the Warriors responded with a goal by Ben Brar at 9:14 for the 6-1 final score.

The Wildcats return to action at the Whittemore Center on Friday at 7 p.m. versus Army West Point on ESPN+.