By Jill Saftel, News Staff
After an upset at No. 9 Boston University Friday night, the Huskies couldn’t pull a weekend sweep in a 9-3 loss to No. 2 Boston College.
The defense might not have shown up for the first period, but the offense for both teams definitely did. It was goal after goal for the Huskies and Eagles, with five goals scored before seven minutes had passed on the ice. Junior forward Bill Arnold opened up the scoring on a turnover with an assist from junior forward Kevin Hayes for his tenth of the year to put BC up 1-0.
Northeastern got their first power play opportunity at 2:38 in the first when sophomore forward Danny Linnell went off for interference, but the Huskies struggled to get shots off and couldn’t capitalize.
Fresh out of the penalty box, Linnell made it 2-0 Eagles when he took a pass from sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau and shot one over senior goaltender Chris Rawlings’ shoulder at 4:47.
The Huskies got on the board before they let the Eagles run away with it when junior forward Braden Pimm made it 2-1 at 5:09 after a scramble in front of Eagle goaltender Parker Milner.
Senior forward Robbie Vrolyk followed Pimm’s goal up with one of his own just over a minute later at 6:11 with assists from captain Vinny Saponari and fellow forward senior Steve Morra to lock the teams at 2-2.
The Eagles were put back on top by sophomore forward Destry Straight at 6:37 with assists from junior forwards Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold to make it 3-2.
Again, another goal wasn’t far off and sophomore forward Adam Reid got a read on Milner at 10:28 to put the Huskies back on equal playing ground with the Eagles.
Things got dicey for the Huskies when freshman defenseman Mike Gunn went off for cross checking at 11:47, but freshman defenseman Colton Saucerman cleared the puck after some sustained offensive pressure from the Eagles halfway through the two minute penalty and Northeastern got the kill.
While the Huskies were able to skate with the Eagles through the first 20, BC showed why they’re ranked second in the nation with two goals just three minutes into the middle frame. First came senior forward Steven Whitney at 1:16 to make it 4-3 BC, and then junior defenseman Isaac MacLeod got a chance on an open net when Rawlings got stuck out of position trying to cover the puck, making it 5-3 Eagles.
Northeastern’s best opportunity to close the gap came when Straight and Arnold went to the penalty box within 26 seconds of each other, giving the Huskies a 5-on-3 opportunity for one minute and 34 seconds. The Huskies again struggled to get shots off and the deficit grew as senior forward Pat Mullane scored his first of the night. At 6-3 Eagles, Rawlings was headed for the bench and senior goaltender Bryan Mountain made his way to the net.
Whitney scored another quick goal coming out of the gate at the top of the third period, putting BC up 7-3 58 seconds into the final 20 minutes of play. The scoring continued for the team in maroon and gold as sophomore forward Quinn Smith scored his first goal of the year and Whitney netted his third of the night for the hat trick and a 9-3 lead.
