BOSTON -- The Boston University Terriers and Merrimack College Warriors skated to a scoreless tie after one period at Agganis Arena in the opening game of the 2013 Hockey East Quarterfinals, the second best-of-three meeting between the teams over the last four years.
Neither side generated much quality offense over the stanza, despite a 13-7 shots on goal edge.The Warriors got on their game early as they blocked seven shots of the ten combined between the teams.
Merrimack wasted little time for its best offensive chance of the game as freshman John Gustafsson's hard wrister from the slot beat BU freshman Sean Maguire, but clanked the top post over his shoulder to keep the game scoreless.
At the opposite end a couple minutes later, junior Matt Nieto tipped a shot just wide from in front of the net on Merrimack's Sam Marotta, but he was not to be beaten in the period as he made stops on all 13 shots he faced.
Joshua Kummins covers Hockey East for SB Nation. Follow him on Twitter @JoshuaKummins.