2009 season-opening series for Merrimack and North Dakota

First-ever hockey game between North Dakota and Merrimack. Oct 10, 2009 Grand Forks Herald (Grand Forks, North Dakota) Newspapers.com

Merrimack traveled to Grand Forks for the first series of the 2009-10 hockey season for both the Warriors and Fighting Sioux. North Dakota held a WCHA Regular Season Champion banner raising prior to the initial puck drop. The Sioux kept the atmosphere high by scoring five times with five different players scoring the goals. Eleven North Dakota players scored at least one point in the 5 to 2 win. All four lines contributed to the scoring. The following night was a closer game. Mike Cichy broke a 1-1 tie a little more than seven minutes into the second period that proved to be the game winner. North Dakota hung on to a 3 to 2 win and earned a season-opening sweep.

Jump ahead nearly seventeen years and Merrimack just won the Hockey East tournament for the first time. It was also the first time an eight seed won the tournament. Merrimack is slated to face North Dakota in the opening round of the tournament. The game in the Sioux Falls Regional will be just the third one between the programs and first since that early-season October series in 2009. Merrimack is looking to win its first game against North Dakota, but it will be worth the wait if it happens on the big stage.

Photo Credit: Grand Forks Herald, Oct. 10, 2009