NORTH ANDOVER — When Merrimack took the ice against Boston College last weekend, junior captain Jordan Heywood was nearly unrecognizable.

All season, Heywood’s flowing locks have been sticking out the bottom of his helmet. But, Sunday, they vanished.

The reason?

He promised Tim Burke, Merrimack’s Team Impact teammate, that on the final day of his cancer treatment, he’d shave his head. So when Burke finished his last treatment last week, Heywood had a date with the clippers.

Team Impact matches up kids facing illness with college athletic teams. Burke has been with the Warriors over a year now.

“He’s part of our team now,” Heywood said. “He’s here three hours before games — he arrives before a lot of the guys to — and he just loves being in the dressing room. It’s awesome to see how comfortable he is around us. He’s our biggest fan and he wants to win as bad as us, so that’s a lot of inspiration. We all know how bad he wants to win.”

The Warriors’ relationship with Burke goes beyond just the dressing room. He has most of the players’ cell numbers and regularly exchanges text messages about anything from schoolwork to the Bruins. Last summer, a group of players training on campus took him to a midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” and last week, the day of his final treatment, a group of players were there celebrating that evening.

“He’s become just one of the guys on the team,” Heywood said.

You’d probably recognize Burke if you saw him, regularly sporting his gold home jersey and Merrimack hat. The 12-year-old has become a fixture at Lawler Arena, and outside of it.

“Sometimes he just comes and hangs out at the apartment and watches TV,” Heywood said. “He’s a really mature kid.”