By: Jason Mastrodonato, News Staff
You could say the men’s hockey team was just due.
The Huskies had gone four weeks without picking up a victory. They hadn’t won at Matthews Arena in 274 days, since they beat Boston College, 3-2, for their final victory of last season March 6. And they were scheduled to face Providence this past Homecoming Weekend, a team that hadn’t lost in six straight games.
But the stars aligned on Saturday night. Northeastern erupted for five goals, including three on the power play, and cruised past the Friars, 5-0, for the first win on home-ice this season.
“There was a little bit of a weight lifted off my back,” said head coach Greg Cronin, who said was thinking about the winless drought during the game. “[The players] have had a good attitude and I think your attitude is critical. If you get sour, you dig the hole deeper and deeper, but they’ve been positive the whole time.”
The Huskies (2-7-3, 2-4-2 Hockey East) picked up three conference points this weekend, also skating to a 3-3 draw with Providence on the road Friday.
“It’s about time, I’ll tell you that much,” said freshman defender Anthony Bitetto on picking up the first home win of the season. Bitetto also scored his first collegiate goal during the win.
“The team looks good,” he said. “ We have a bunch of talent, we just have to put it together, and I think we’re starting to figure it out.”
After controlling possession for the majority of the first period on Saturday night, the Huskies put one away when senior forward Wade MacLeod took a pass from freshman forward Rob Dongara and snapped a wrist shot that beat the glove of Alex Beaudry and found the top right corner of the net.
MacLeod’s goal marked the fifth consecutive game he recorded a point, including his 100th career tally the night before. He leads the team with 11 points ( five goals, six assists).
“It’s on the back of your mind when you’re playing when you get that close [to 100 points], so it’s nice to get that,” MacLeod said.
Fourth in the nation in penalty minutes per game heading into the matchup, Northeastern went the entire first period without sending a man to the box.
In the second period, Steve Silva stuffed in a rebound on the power play to give the Huskies their first two-goal lead since they beat UMass-Lowell Oct. 23.
Bitetto and classmate Braden Pimm notched the first goals of their collegiate careers on the power play in the third period, and freshman defender Jamie Oleksiak converted a 2-on-1 late in the third to give Northeastern the 5-0 win.
After a rough start to the year with the extra man advantage, the Huskies have scored two power play goals in three of their last four games.
“Obviously the power play was good and the penalty kill was good too,” Cronin said. “The older unit (featuring Silva, MacLeod, Bitetto, senior Tyler McNeely and freshman Brodie Reid), they have a nice chemistry. I think they’ve just learned to adapt. Now the ones that weren’t going in are going in. I think they’ve been a little more aggressive at the net.”
Chris Rawlings made 29 saves to earn his first shutout of the season.
“I thought he was solid,” Cronin said. “He was really good. He was strong on the puck and square to the puck. He deserved the shutout.”
In Providence Friday night, Northeastern fell to a two-goal deficit just more than 10 minutes into the game. But the Huskies tallied 24 shots in the final two periods, applying constant pressure, and converted on two power play goals to come back and earn the 3-3 draw.
“We got down 3-1, but this is a good group of guys on the bench,” MacLeod said. “When we got that bounce to get the second goal in, I think we knew were going to tie it up. It was just a matter of when.”
MacLeod said the team has been playing with a lot of confidence lately and has made strides since early in the year.
“Maybe it’s a small consolation prize as a coach, but I thought our team was much better today than it was in October,” added Cronin. “We’re starting to be a threat with the puck down low. We’re starting to get pucks to the net, and the 15 sophomores and freshmen, maybe we’re just starting to figure it out and get a vision of what we need to do.”
The Huskies will head to Vermont on Friday to take on the Catamounts.
“We’re pretty confident,” Bitetto said. “We have a good team, we just haven’t played the system. It seems like were kind of figuring it out now and it’s good; it’s working out for us.”
