By Nate Owen, News Staff

You can’t blame forward Ryan Ginand and his five senior classmates if they showed up a bit late to practice this week.
‘ After all, Monday’s matchup with No. 12 Boston College (11-9-4, 7-7-4 Hockey East) was the first time the men’s hockey team seniors played in an 8 p.m. Beanpot game. And with a 6-1 over the Eagles, they’ve earned themselves another late start in the championship game this Monday against No. 1 Boston University.
‘ ‘All three years we were in the 5 o’clock game,’ Ginand said.’ ‘The energy tonight was amazing. I didn’t know what it was like’ [to play in the later game] and it was unbelievable. I can’t wait for next week.’
While Northeastern received contributions from many players, including juniors Brad Thiessen (45 saves) and Chris Donovan (4 points), the play of head coach Greg Cronin’s six seniors are a large reason why the Huskies are playing another 8 p.m. game.
‘ ‘I made a point to the underclassmen that’s there’s six [seniors] playing in the game and this is their last chance at it,’ Cronin said. ‘That goes with some responsibility for the seniors to play well. They can’t just sit there and be spectators and have a vanilla game.’
‘ Captain Joe Vitale initiated the game’s first goal, winning the faceoff on a 5-on-3 NU power play and feeding the puck to sophomore defender Mike Hewkin. Hewkin then found Ginand, who beat BC goalie John Muse at 3:24. Ginand’s goal not only gave NU the lead, but helped calm the nerves of a team that appeared to be jittery in the opening minutes.
‘We were tense early, you could feel’ it on the bench,’ Cronin said. ‘They can say all they want about how they were confident going in, but they were nervous early. I could feel it. [When Ginand] scored that goal, I could just feel the weight lift off’ us.’
‘ In addition to setting up Ginand’s goal, Vitale was part a Husky penalty kill unit that stymied the Eagles on all seven of their power plays.
‘ After Ginand’s goal, much of Northeastern’s early offensive pressure came from its fourth line, centered by senior Rob Rassey.
‘ ‘I thought the pressure started with the Donovan-Rassey’-[junior forward Chris] Costa line,’ Cronin said. ‘I thought that line was the real catalyst offensively.’
Rassey was credited with an assist on Costa’s goal at 11:06 in the first. It was Rassey’s sixth point in his last seven games, after notching six total points in 29 games last season.
And the two senior defensemen, Louis Liotti and Denis Chisolm, continued their unheralded, yet steady play.
‘ ‘ [There’s] two guys that don’t get a lot of credit, Liotti and Chisolm. They don’t do anything great, but they’re just real veteran players,’ Cronin said.’ ‘It’s funny, I was watching them play tonight and you can’t give freshmen experience. Those guys understand the game, they know how to handle momentum swings. It’s so important for the program to have people like that.’
‘ A pair of seniors combined for two goals in the second period, giving the Huskies some breathing room.
‘ Liotti gave Northeastern a 3-1 cushion, firing the puck from the top of zone and catching Muse out of position at 11:58.
‘ If Liotti’s second period goal gave the Huskies a cushion, then forward Dennis McCauley’s strike sheared the Eagles’ wings.
‘ Just 42 seconds after Liotti’s tally, McCauley took a Donovan pass just inside the blue line and rocketed it past Muse for a 4-1 advantage.
While the game against the Eagles might have Husky fans thinking of bigger things, Cronin said he knows his seniors will retain their focus on the game on hand.
‘I think they understand that there’s another game to play, particularly for the Beanpot, and there’s one on Friday [against conference foe Merrimack],’ he said. ‘That’s just kind of the way we’ve been rolling through this year.’