By: Jason Mastrodonato, News Staff
Head coach Greg Cronin could only shake his head in disbelief during a third period call that went against his Northeastern squad, which was down 4-2 to Boston University and facing its 10th man-down opportunity on Friday night.
It was that type of game for the Huskies, who are third in the nation in penalty minutes per game and couldn’t get rolling during the second game of the Hockey East quarterfinals at Agganis Arena, losing 5-2 to the No. 13 Terriers.
“I was going to put a blind fold on because I didn’t know what was a penalty and what wasn’t a penalty,” Cronin said after the game. “I told the guys just forget about the penalties and just play.”
BU head coach Jack Parker, celebrating his 66th birthday, had a different view of the penalty-infested game.
“I really thought there was only two questionable calls tonight,” he said. “That was a very hard game to referee, that’s for sure.”
Friday marked the fourth consecutive matchup between the cross-town rivals, and after the Huskies appeared to carry over momentum from Thursday’s win for at least the first five minutes on Friday, it didn’t last long.
A one-timer from freshman forward Brodie Reid put them up 1-0, but the Terriers were in charge the rest of the period, scoring three goals in seven minutes, including one on the power play.
After the third BU goal, Cronin elected to pull sophomore goaltender Chris Rawlings in favor of freshman Clay Witt, who stopped 41 shots in a 4-3 victory over BU last weekend.
“What would you do when [you’re winning] 12-6 in shots and you’re down 3-1?” Cronin responded to a reporter after the game.
Witt made 29 saves on 30 attempts, but the Huskies couldn’t mount a comeback, getting outshot 25-16 in the final two periods.
Northeastern hasn’t beaten the Terriers in a playoff series since 1987, but will look to change that streak on Sunday in a winner-take-all game at 7 p.m.
“I think we’ll show up and play,” said Cronin, whose squad will play its fourth consecutive game at Agganis Arena. “We’re getting very comfortable with our environment now.”
