The arena was different, the opponent was ranked 10th in the country and the game stretched on for more than three hours.
But the situation remained the same for Northeastern goaltender Keni Gibson, who, with 39 saves, played like his usual self in the Huskies’ thrilling 2-1 double-overtime victory over Harvard University in round one of the Beanpot games.
Gibson has been named The Northeastern News Player of the Week. It is the second honor for the netminder this year.
“We’ve been hungry for [The Beanpot], and this being our last year, we left it all out there, the juniors, sophomores and freshmen, everybody contributed,” said Husky senior defenseman Tim Judy, who scored the game-winning goal. “But I can’t say enough about [Gibson], he’s our backstop back there.”
The Stittsville, Ontario native survived numerous opportunities from the Crimson in constant sudden death pressure.
On top of that, the goaltender and his teammates remained focused despite the Crimson’s quick 1-0 lead, just 59 seconds into the contest on a backhand from sophomore Kevin Du.
“Obviously Keni is on a great run right now,” said NU coach Bruce Crowder following the game. “Tonight, he allowed just one goal, and just one against UMass. I’ve always said all along, the goaltender has to be the difference-maker.”
Once the red light began flashing to make Judy’s game-winner official, Gibson was able to celebrate his second appearance in the Beanpot final as a Husky.
“I didn’t know what to do, I jumped around and made sure my teammates were going before I skated down to the other end,” he said. “It’s a blur after that.”
Gibson has been an integral member of the Huskies since his rookie days, when he made 25 starts and was named to the Hockey East All-Rookie team. That same year, he set an NU record with a 2.65 goals against average, while his .905 save percentage was second all time.
His junior year, Gibson shared team MVP honors with Jason Guerriero. He posted consecutive shutouts, the first Husky to do so since Ed Kerry in 1956-57.
Today, Gibson stands as NU’s all-time leader in shutouts, goals against average and save percentage.
– Jeff Powalisz, staff
