The night was fitting for one of the proudest Husky senior classes in recent memory.
In fact, you could have almost called it scripted.
In their final contest at Matthews Arena Saturday, the men’s hockey seniors put on a show for the 1,812 fans in attendance, with four seniors scoring at least a goal and another two recording a point in an 8-3 thrashing of the University of Massachusetts.
The win, which gave the Huskies a 15-16-5 record overall, and a 10-10-4 finish in Hockey East, sets up a pivotal best-of-three series with the University of New Hampshire starting tomorrow night (7 p.m.) at the Whittemore Center in Durham, N.H.
“It was a senior night,” said Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder, which was topped off by Jason Guerriero becoming the first Husky in history to win the HE scoring crown (48 points). “I don’t think, in all the number of senior nights I’ve been through, I’ve seen the number of guys all show up on the scoreboard and all have great games.”
UNH finished at 15-5-4 in HE, and stands at 22-9-4 overall following its 3-2 loss to Boston University Saturday. The Wildcats swept the season series with NU, with a 4-3 home win in November, and then a 5-2 victory last month.
“It really didn’t matter to us,” Crowder said of which team NU would play. “Because we knew wherever we were going to go, we were going to have to make sure we were ready to come and play, and make sure we play hard. We knew it wasn’t going to be easy.”
Northeastern opened a 4-1 lead just over a minute into the second period, with seniors Guerriero (five points), Jared Mudryk and Tim Judy all having a hand in the process. However, the Minutemen rushed back, making it a one-goal game 10 minutes later.
But then Guerriero and first linemates junior Mike Morris (six points) and freshman Jimmy Russo responded. The trio combined for 15 points.
“We got ourselves back into it, and took ourselves right back out with a lot of undisciplined play,” UMass coach Don Cahoon said, his team falling to 13-21-4 overall and finishing 6-16-2 in HE. “They got a little bit loose and gave us a chance to take a run at them, and we did. When we made it a one goal-game, we had to tighten up and play zones as tight and as thoroughly as necessary. We weren’t able to do that.”
Guerriero’s goal that made it a 5-3 game and dashed any hopes of a UMass comeback came at the 7:49 mark of the final frame. Morris and Russo set up Guerriero, who was waiting in the slot to put it behind Minuteman goalie Gabe Winer.
The linemates then switched roles for the team’s next goal, when Guerriero and Morris set up a skating Russo from the right side.
It was Guerriero’s final point of the game, an assist on Morris’ second goal of the game and the team’s seventh at the 12:14 mark of the third, that may have been the most crowd-pleasing.
The Husky captain came across the blue line, and seemed to toy with the UMass defense as he moved his way with ease to the right face-off circle. Just when it seemed he would keep the puck for a shot, he fired a picture-perfect pass to a wide-open Morris, who then blasted the puck home for a four-goal lead.
“Sometimes, things just bounce your way,” Guerriero said. “They were tonight. I’ve been playing with Morris since he got here my sophomore year. He’s a great player, and he’s going to be a great player in pro hockey someday. Russo’s contributing too; he sees the ice really well, and he’s got all the aspects to play at the next level. It’s an honor to play with both those guys.”
Morris, who finished the regular season with 39 points, tied for fifth in HE, achieved something significant in Crowder’s eyes.
“It’s tremendous; six points in a Hockey East game, that’s unbelievable,” the coach said. “It just doesn’t happen in this day and age. He was clicking, and finding the holes. He’s got a cannon for a shot, and the biggest thing is him shooting it. It’s something we’ve wanted out of him, and I hope it continues next weekend.”
The night seemed to end perfectly for the Huskies, as the first linemates had completed their work, and three more seniors got into the act.
With just under a minute to play, defenseman Jon Awe was skating just on top of the left face-off circle and fired a shot in for the team’s eighth goal. Fittingly enough, assisting on the play were defenseman Jonathan Koop and netminder Keni Gibson.
