By Jack Weiland
AMHERST – For about five minutes, the men’s hockey team was on top of the world, having just swept University of Massachusetts-Amherst to put themselves in position for the final Hockey East playoff spot.
Then came the wait, followed by the press conference and finally the news: Boston University scored an overtime goal, a goal it needed to eliminate Northeastern from the playoff ranks. NU will be the only conference team to miss the tournament, due to the overtime winner, potted by BU’s David Van der Gulik with 2:30 left in the extra frame at Durham, N.H.
“It was probably one of the toughest things I’ve gone through in a long time,” NU coach Bruce Crowder said. “The kids were in such a high, and actually (Keni Gibson) and I were in the interviewing room after the game. We got the news in there and all the sudden, we went in there and everyone was excited, and then we go out and it’s like everything is a morgue — 180 degrees, unfortunately.”
The Huskies also missed the tournament last year, losing to UMass-Lowell on the road in the season’s final contest.
Regardless of the post-season result, Northeastern ended the year in a furious frenzy, sweeping the second-place Minutemen and taking three of four points from BU the previous weekend, all in do-or-die contests.
“There’s no doubt the lowest point of the season was November 30 (when the team’s record was 0-9-2),” Crowder said. “Now, I think, the high point is the future and what’s out there — the excitement of guys coming back and knowing what they can do. We’ve got a great nucleus coming back and I think we’ve got good kids coming in. I think without a doubt this is, on paper, the strongest team I’ve ever had coming back to play.
“We’ve got to take a lot into next year,” he said. “One, we can’t leave things to other people, we’ve got to take care of our own things. Two, the ability to compete and play and find ways to win, 11-7-5 our last couple months, shutting out BC and shutting out Maine, two teams that are right now ranked two and three in the country, the ability next year not to have the inconsistencies that we had in the beginning of the year is going to be key, and I think the guys realize that.”
Over the final two weeks of the year, the Huskies found a way to win, plain and simple.
None of the four games, of which NU won three and earned points in all four, was a better example of that than the regular season final at Amherst, when NU earned the victory despite getting outshot 39-15. NU raced out to a 3-0 lead en route to its fifth conference win of the season.
The Huskies converted each of their first two shots, with Jared Mudryk’s first period score as the only NU shot to hit the net in the opening stanza.
In the second period, the Dogs didn’t register a shot until the 7:04 mark, when freshman Ray Ortiz netted his class-leading eighth score of the season.
In the third period, fellow freshman Steve Birnstill hit the board with his first career collegiate goal after he held the puck in front of the Amherst net for at least six full seconds without being touched. Eventually, after a series of dekes, Birnstill slid the puck around UMass goalie Gabe Winer (12 saves).
On Friday night, NU netminder Keni Gibson furthered his school record for shutouts in a season, stopping 38 Minutemen attempts on his way to a 4-0 decision. Jason Guerriero scored two goals, his 15th and 16th of the year, while senior Trevor Reschny and freshman Yale Lewis netted single scores in the final hockey game at Matthews Arena this year.
Over spring break, Northeastern took three of four points in a pivotal series with crosstown rival Boston University.
The teams battled to a 2-2 draw behind goals from Huskies Eric Ortlip and Jared Mudryk, and Terriers Brian McConnell and Van der Gulik. On Saturday, the Huskies buried the host Terriers in a thrilling 6-3 affair in which Northeastern stunned BU with a five-goal second period. Guerriero and sophomore Mike Morris both scored twice during the span.
“(Northeastern) played extremely well,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “They’d won one game on the road all year long, and they came in here and played great. Their goaltender did a good job playing out in front of the net, they did a good job through center ice, and did a great job turning the puck around and creating a lot of 3-on-2s, 2-on-1s and played extremely well.
“We got beat to every loose puck,” he said, appraising his own side. “Just as much as I described Northeastern looking so good, we were just as bad. (We) played like we were disinterested. A pathetic display by the Boston University team, a terrific display by Northeastern.”
NU finished the year with a record of 11-16-7 overall, and 5-13-6 in Hockey East play.
