By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s hockey team opened its 2013-14 season in near-perfect fashion. The Huskies went 2-0 against University of Alabama-Huntsville, taking Friday’s opener 9-1 and Saturday’s rematch 3-2.
Friday, the Huskies got off to a quick start as freshman John Stevens won an offensive zone faceoff a minute into the game. He passed the puck to sophomore Kevin Roy, Hockey East Player of the Week, at the top of the red circle. Roy spun and fired the shot into the upper right corner for a 1-0 Northeastern lead.
The Huskies took advantage of the power play in the first period as they scored three power play goals on six opportunities with 14 shots. Freshman Dalen Hedges, freshman Matt Benning and senior Braden Pimm each scored power play goals to give the Huskies a 4-0 advantage going into the second period having outshot their opponents 28-8.
Roy scored his second goal in four-on-four play with about two minutes left in the second period. Freshman Mike Szmatula took the puck down the right side of the ice and passed the puck to Roy, who was in the middle of the offensive zone and beat the goalie to give the Huskies a 7-0 lead.
Roy completed the hat trick with two minutes left in the game, when he stole the puck along the right sideboard and drove to the net. He cut inside, deked and beat the goalie on the bottom right side of the net to make the final score 9-1.
“[The hat trick] was just a plus, but we came out strong today, we had a good team win, we had to get the systems down and everything,” Roy said.
Fourteen Huskies registered a point in the 9-1 victory.
“We like our depth, from our first through fourth line and one through sixth defenseman,” head coach Jim Madigan said. “I think it speaks to our depth when we’ve got confidence in rolling all four lines and getting all six defensemen in play. So when you have that many players getting points, it shows that you have a lot of field.”
Junior Clay Witt got the start and made 26 saves on 27 shots during the game.
The Huskies had a more difficult time in the second game. After a misconduct by Alabama-Huntsville for hitting from behind, Szmatula took a slap shot from the upper right sideboard that Pimm deflected in from near the crease to give the Huskies an early 1-0 lead.
The Huskies scored their second goal three and a half minutes into the second period during a five-on-three. Roy passed the puck to senior Cody Ferriero who launched a snap shot to the upper left side of the net.
The Huskies went into the locker room with a 2-0 lead. However, five third period penalties allowed Alabama-Huntsville to get back in the game.
Junior Dax Lauwers took a penalty for contact to the head about four minutes into the third period. Chad Brears beat freshman Derick Roy from the right side of the ice with a shot that went into the upper left side of the net.
Sophomore Colton Saucerman gave the Huskies a cushion with just under seven minutes left in the game as Szmatula was tripped at the blue line. Saucerman took the puck and put it just inside the left post.
Lauwers took a penalty with just over two minutes left in the game and Saucerman took one with under a minute left. This set up a six-on-three for the Chargers with about 40 seconds to score two goals. Steven Koshey scored with three seconds left in the game off a deflection.
The Huskies had trouble staying out of the penalty box as they had 12 penalties in the first game and 11 in the second. They allowed two power play goals in two games.
“I obviously wasn’t very pleased with our lack of discipline,” Madigan said. “Our older guys are the ones getting penalties and they’ll have to fix that if we’re to have any type of success this year. It can’t happen. Undisciplined play almost cost us the game tonight.”
A positive note for the Huskies was the performance by freshmen. Szmatula had five assists for the Huskies, Stevens had two assists and freshman Dalen Hedges scored a goal and had an assist. Matt Benning played on defense and had three points in the first game while Derick Roy saved 27 of 29 shots in Saturday’s game.
“We had a lot of chemistry out there,” said Smzatula, who started both games. “Cody as an older guy is helping Zach and me this weekend, just helping us get our legs under us. It mainly comes down to just working hard, staying positive and doing the little things, getting pucks deep and cycling, outworking the opponent.”
The Huskies have a home and home series this weekend, with a game at the College of the Holy Cross Friday and a home game against the Crusaders Saturday. Madigan did not comment on his starting goaltender choice for those games.
