By: Jason Mastrodonato, News Staff
The wait is finally over.
The men’s hockey team had entered the third period with a tie score in its first five games. But on the fifth try, the Huskies came out victorious, earning their first win of the 2010-11 season with a 3-1 score over the University of Massachusetts-Lowell.
“It’s definitely a monkey off the back,” senior forward Steve Silva told WRBB Sports radio after scoring the game-winner. “We were pressing in the third period, just trying to hold on to the win instead of applying pressure. But it’s a relief for sure.”
The win capped off a three-point weekend for the Huskies (1-2-1 Hockey East, 1-2-2 overall), who also battled to a 2-2 tie with No. 7 New Hampshire (UNH) (0-0-1, 1-1-2) Friday at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern has allowed only 10 goals in five games this season, the fourth best goals-per-game average (2.00) in the NCAA.
Sophomore goaltender Chris Rawlings has played a big role in the team’s defense, racking up a .950 save percentage, good for second in the nation. After stopping 82 combined shots in the last two games, including a career-high 43-save effort against UNH, Rawlings was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week.
“He’s been terrific,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “You can call this game goaltending. If your goalie is really good, you have a chance to play well. And if Chris plays well, we have a chance to win games every night.”
The weekend action began at home on Friday night, as Northeastern welcomed UNH to Matthews in front of a nearly sold-out crowd of 4,571. The Huskies out-shot the Wildcats 16-9 in the first period, carrying play the first few minutes before the penalties began to rack up in yet another contest.
But when the power play wasn’t working (1-20 entering the game), the Huskies turned to the shorthanded unit to put them ahead. Junior forward Mike McLaughlin outskated two defenders down the ice, made a deke to pull the puck to his forehand in front of the net, and stuffed it through the legs of UNH goalie Matt DiGirolamo.
UNH responded with a goal later in the first period and added another in the third. But just as momentum seemed to be in favor of the Wildcats, McLaughlin found a loose puck in front of the UNH net and put it home for his second goal of the night.
“It obviously feels good to get a couple early in the season compared to last year,” said McLaughlin, whose goals were the first scored by a non-freshman for NU this season. “The freshmen have been great so far and I have to give them a lot of credit. They stepped up when things weren’t going right for us. But it’s nice to get some veteran goals.”
Later in the third, the Huskies were awarded a 5-on-3 and appeared to score a goal early in the power play. The horn went off as the red light flashed behind the net, but officials ruled that they blew the whistle just moments before the puck crossed the goal line. After neither team could score the rest of the way, including an overtime period, the game ended in a 2-2 draw.
“For me that was the turning point in the game,” Cronin said of the failed 5-on-3. “I’d like to put the puck in directly instead of bouncing around the goalie’s pads. That would have been a huge goal for us and still would have had a 5-on-4, so that impacted the game for us.”
The Huskies struck first at Tsongas Center in Lowell on Saturday night when senior captain Tyler McNeely scored five minutes into the first period. But Cronin was disappointed with his team’s performance in the second, and after seeing little improvement to start the third, he called a timeout.
“I just told them I was upset because we weren’t competing,” the coach told WRBB Sports. “It was like the yellow school bus was going to pick us up afterward to have some cupcakes and refreshments and drive us back to Boston. It was bizarre to watch it.”
The Huskies responded following the timeout, as Silva scored his third career game-winning goal in front of family members and friends just minutes away from his hometown of Tyngsboro. McNeely later put away an empty-netter to finish the game, 3-1.
“It was definitely awesome,” Silva said. “I’ve gotten a lot of support over the years so it means a lot to come to Lowell and score.”
Northeastern will host Holy Cross and Bentley in two non-conference games this weekend as the Huskies look to continue their winning ways.
“We knew all along we were going to click,” Silva said. “The first couple of games we ran into injuries and didn’t get to play much as a line. But we knew the whole time we were starting to click and how well we could play together.”
