Ed. Note — This story will also appear in the Saturday edition of The Eagle Tribune

NORTH ANDOVER — The Merrimack men’s hockey team had the perfect opportunity to show their new head coach that they learned their lesson. After letting a late lead against UMass slip away last week — the Warriors fell in overtime after allowing the tying goal in the last minute — Merrimack head coach Scott Borek said he thought his team needed to learn how to win.

Fast forward to last night, and the Warriors found themselves one goal ahead of Boston College in the third period when BC head coach Jerry York called timeout with 2:20 left on the clock.

This time, the Warriors got gritty. They won a draw and got the puck deep. About one minute later, when BC goaltender Joe Woll came to the bench for the extra skater, the Warriors kept up the pressure. They didn’t find the empty net but they also didn’t allow BC to generate possession in the offensive zone, and Merrimack skated away with a 2-1 win over the Eagles in front of 2,205 fans at Lawler Arena.

“It’s funny, last week we were in the same situation (against UMass) and we made some bad plays and ended up losing the game,” said Borek. “Tonight, two of those same players made really big plays at the end of the game to help us get this win. I was really pleased with our effort and our team got what it deserved. We worked hard for 60 minutes and we stayed together. Our effort and attention to detail showed.”

BC controlled the early portion of the first period, putting nine shots on Merrimack goaltender Craig Pantano within the first five minutes, but the senior turned them all away.

Momentum then shifted Merrimack’s way after Derek Petti scored at the 8:19 mark of the first period. With the Warriors mounting their first sustained pressure of the game, defenseman Johnathan Kovacevic sailed a puck over the crossbar from the top of the left circle. The puck took a weird bounce off the glass and trickled back in front of the net where Petti was waiting to pounce on it and fire it past BC goaltender Joe Woll on the power play.

“We want to get pucks to the net on the power play,” Petti said. “Koves did a great job of shooting the puck and it goes over the net, but then it’s a loose puck and there were a lot of bodies in front. I just smacked at it, hoping it would go in, and it did.”

Merrimack outshot BC 19-18 in the first period, edging the Eagles 16-9 in the category over the last 15 minutes of the period.

The Warriors doubled that lead in the second period when freshman Tyler Heidt lit the lamp for the first time in his career, taking a pass from D partner Alex Carle and blasting the puck through traffic and past Woll. Heidt’s goal was Merrimack’s second power-play goal of the game.

“We need to be simple on the power play,” Borek said. “We won’t be buzzing the puck around like some other teams. We want to be simple and just get it to the net. We scored the two power-play goals tonight because we were simple and aggressive. That turned the whole game for us.”

Logan Hutsko scored for the Eagles with 46.7 seconds left in the second period to cut the Merrimack lead to 2-1, but Pantano would hold the line in the third period, turning aside all 10 BC shots he faced as the Eagles outshot Merrimack 10-2 in the final period.

Hutsko’s goal was BC’s first since Oct. 13; the Eagles had been shutout in back-to-back games.

Merrimack and BC complete the weekend home-and-home series tonight at Conte Forum (7 p.m.). Merrimack junior winger Sami Tavernier will be eligible to return to the lineup after serving a one-game suspension imposed by Hockey East earlier this week for a hit from behind called last weekend against UMass.

Merrimack 2, Boston College 1 at Lawler Arena Merrimack College (3-5-0): 1-1-0—2 Boston College (0-5-0): 0-1-0—1 First Period: 1. MC Derek Petti 2 (Johnathan Kovacevic, Chase Gresock), pp, 8:19. Second Period: 2. MC Tyler Heidt 1 (Alex Carle, Jordan Seyfert), pp, 12:56; 3. BC Logan Hutsko 1 (Julius Matilla, Casey Fitzgerald), pp, 19:14. Third Period: None. Shots: Merrimack 19-11-2—32 ; Boston College 18-4-10—32 Saves: MC Pantano (59:45) 31/32; BC Woll (58:30) 29/31 Power Play: Merrimack 2 for 6; Boston College 1 for 6 Penalties: Merrimack 8-19; Boston College 10-20