By Jill Saftel, News Staff
It came down to overtime for a Husky men’s hockey team on its last breath, but Northeastern couldn’t capitalize in extra time and skated to a draw with the University of Maine Black Bears, 4-4, Saturday night. With the single conference point, the Huskies were eliminated from playoff contention.
“I was really happy with the way our guys competed; the effort was unbelievable,” head coach Jim Madigan said following the game. “We dressed eight forwards and 10 defensemen and our guys just worked their rear ends off and competed, battled right to the end.”
Junior forward Cody Ferriero struck first with a power play goal at 8:12 in the first period. With assists from captain Vinny Saponari and freshman defenseman Colton Saucerman, Ferriero beat junior Black Bear goaltender Martin Oullette with a shot from inside the right circle.
With sophomore Josh Manson off for Northeastern on a roughing call, the Black Bears answered with a power play goal of their own. Freshman forward Ryan Lomberg beat Rawlings with a wrister from right by the post to lock it at 1-1 with 8:51 to play in the first.
Senior forward Adam Shemansky struck next for Maine on Rawlings’s doorstep, making it 2-1, again on the power play at 14:03 in the first. But the Huskies weren’t far behind, and Saucerman answered with yet another power play goal, this time with a 5-on-3 advantage, to tie it back up at 2-2 at 19:48.
With the Black Bears trying to kill off two penalties at the end of the first period, the Huskies still had a one-man advantage as the second period began. Saucerman struck again with his third of the season 17 seconds into the second period for the 3-2 advantage, but a flurry of scoring within two minutes would soon negate the Husky lead.
It began at 4:13 when freshman forward Steven Swavely took advantage of a Maine power play opportunity to tie it up at 3-3. The next one would give Maine the 4-3 lead and chase Rawlings from the net, and senior defenseman Mike Cornell’s goal just 59 seconds after Swavely’s would put senior Bryan Mountain in net for Northeastern.
Senior forward Steve Morra was there to tie it up when fellow forward junior Zak Stone set him up 32 seconds after Cornell’s goal to tie it at 4-4 and end the offensive onslaught by both teams.
The third period proved to be a nail-biter, as the battle of the basement continued and the Black Bears and Huskies played back-and-forth hockey. Adding to the intensity the lack of penalties through the final period, until junior forward Braden Pimm was called for elbowing with 7:43 to play in regulation. With 1:09 left on Pimm’s penalty, Maine’s Kyle Beattie was called for cross-checking to make it 4-on-4.
Neither team could sneak one by Mountain or Oullette in the final frame, and the crucial conference match headed to overtime.
A loss Friday night made Saturday’s game a must-win for the Huskies, who were fighting for their lives in a postseason. A Friday draw between the University of Massachusetts-Amherst and the University of New Hampshire only made things worse for Northeastern, who could’ve benefitted from a New Hampshire win, considering UMass occupied eighth place and the last playoff spot that comes along with it.
After Saturday’s game, Madigan said he was pleased with the team’s effort, despite the fact that the team was eliminated from playoff contention.
“Next weekend we are playing for pride and we’re playing a spoiler role which is unfortunate because the goal every year is to get into the playoffs and advance,” he said. “From that perspective it is disappointing but I’m happy with the way the kids played this weekend.”
With Friday’s victory over Northeastern, Maine tied UMass for eighth place, with 18 conference points.
Captain Vinny Saponari got the team off to a good start to the second period Friday night after a scoreless first. He used some solid stick work to break through the two Maine defensemen attempting to stop his rush and went top shelf on Oullette to get the Huskies on the board one minute and twenty seconds in.
The second period ended on a frightening note when freshman forward Mike McMurtry, who had the second assist on Saponari’s goal, was hit into the board by Maine’s Jake Rutt and remained on the ice without movement for a few minutes. McMurtry eventually skated off with assistance from teammates Dustin Darou and Dax Lauwers, but did not return for the remainder of the game.
Rutt was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit, but the Huskies were unable to convert their five minutes with the man advantage to an increase on the scoreboard.
The Black Bears have established their dominance while on the penalty kill, with five shorthanded goals this season. Two of their best looks Friday against Northeastern came with one of their players in the box.
After killing off the Rutt penalty, the Black Bears tied it when forward Kyle Beattie, in his first game back after a concussion, beat Rawlings with a diagonal shot from the far side of the left circle at 6:30.
Maine struck again for the two-goal lead when Ben Hutton stuffed a rebound past Rawlings at 10:28, but not before the Husky goaltender turned away two previous shots on the same play.
An empty netter from Mark Anthoine sealed the win and two conference points for Maine, despite 31 saves from Rawlings.
With McMurtry out Saturday, sophomore defenseman Josh Manson moved up to left wing on the top line to fill in for the lack of forwards. The team was still without leading rookie scorer Kevin Roy, who with 34 points is currently tied for first among all Division I rookies with the University of Miami’s Riley Barber. Roy is out with an upper body injury sustained Feb. 22 at Providence College.
On a positive note for the Huskies, senior defenseman Drew Ellement returned to the ice Friday from rehabbing a lower body injury. Ellement was injured Jan. 26 at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, leaving an already young defensive core with no upperclassmen.
The Huskies return to Boston for their last home game of the season at Matthews Arena on Friday before traveling down Commonwealth Avenue to take on Boston University in their final regular season game.
