NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The UAH hockey team began its Thanksgiving swing through the Northeast on Wednesday night, and the squad fell 6-0 to No. 1 Merrimack. The loss drops the Chargers to 0-12-1 while Merrimack improves to 9-0-1.

The Warriors started out strong, putting the visitors quickly in a steep hole as the nation's top-ranked team scored three goals in a span of less than four minutes early in the opening stanza. Scoring Merrimack's first two goals, Connor Toomey scored at 4:57 before striking again at 6:54, and Clayton Jardine tallied at 8:32 to send the Warriors to a 3-0 lead after the first.

Scoring at 4:19 of the middle period, Quinn Gould put the only undefeated team left in the country up 4-0, and a pair of power-play markers – Ryan Flanigan's tally at 12:05 and Jesse Todd's strike at 16:15 – gave Merrimack the final advantage of 6-0 as Clarke Saunders held the hosts off the board in the third period.

Saunders entered the contest in relief of John Griggs who earned the start but surrendered the three goals in the first period. In just under 52 minutes of action, Saunders faced 40 shots and turned away 37 of them.

On the night, the Warriors outshot UAH by a 48-13 advantage – including a 17-1 margin in the second period. Merrimack was 2-for-5 with the man-advantage, while the Chargers could not convert on its three chances on the power play.

The road trip for the Blue and White continues on Friday as it visits UMass Lowell at 3 p.m. CST.