By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s hockey team couldn’t hang on to a 3-1 lead Saturday at Matthews Arena as the Huskies dropped a 4-3 overtime decision to Boston College. The loss came after a 4-2 Eagles victory at BC on Friday.
The Huskies (5-3-0, 0-2-0 Hockey East) got off to a slow start on Friday as they were outshot 17-7 by the Eagles. Junior goaltender Clay Witt had to make a tough save a minute into Friday’s game as BC’s Johnny Gaudreau snuck past the Husky defense.
Northeastern got on the board first as freshman forward Dalen Hedges took the puck in a scrum along the boards. He passed it to sophomore forward Ryan Belonger in front of the crease who shot it inside the left post.
The Eagles scored their first goal of the game with 31 seconds left in the first period. Kevin Hayes skated past a Northeastern defender and rifled a shot past Witt for a power play goal.
Gaudreau scored a shorthanded goal with seven minutes left in the second period. The junior broke for a two-on-one with fellow forward Bill Arnold before burying the puck past Witt.
The Eagles scored their third goal a minute into the third period when Ryan Fitzgerald beat Witt with a rebound off a Hayes shot.
The Huskies scored a power play goal two minutes later as sophomore defenseman Colton Saucerman took a slapshot that freshman forward Mike Szmatula redirected past the goalie.
Head coach Jim Madigan pulled Witt, who ended Friday’s game with 29 saves and Saturday’s game with 36 saves, with 1:11 left in the game to give the Huskies an extra attacker, but Gaudreau scored on the empty net.
“I think Witt has played very well up to date. He’s given us good goaltending, he’s given us timely goaltending. He gave us a chance to win here tonight,” Madigan said. “Gaudreau scores on that two-on-one, freezes our defender, power play goal, the third goal we were turned back to the net, I thought we would get out of it … But I thought Witt played very well and he gave us a play to come back and try to tie it. We couldn’t get the tying goal.”
The Eagles got off to another early start on Saturday as Witt had to stop a three-on-one just over a minute into the game. BC got the first six shots of the game before the Huskies recorded their first shot eight minutes into the period.
It was a good time to start shooting, as it resulted in a goal for junior forward Torin Snydeman. Freshman defenseman Jake Schechter fired a shot from the left side of the ice which junior forward Adam Reid redirected before Snydeman shot it in.
“I think it was Adam Reid who made a nice chip in that defense zone,” Snydeman said. “He did a great job, he controlled the line and got the puck on net. I try to go to the net as much as I can to try to get a rebound, and I just got lucky.”
The Eagles scored three minutes later in a play that began on the penalty kill. Hayes and Fitzgerald generated a two-on-one. Hayes passed to Fitzgerald, who shot it in.
The Eagles outshot the Huskies 16-11 in the second period, but neither team could generate a score.
The Huskies extended their lead to 2-1 two minutes into the third period when sophomore forward Kevin Roy stole a pass in the offensive zone. He passed to Szmatula, who beat the goalie underneath the left pad.
Saucerman gave the Huskies a two-goal lead four minutes later when he took a shot from the blue line that was deflected by a BC defender before winding up in the goal.
The Huskies went on the power play one minute later. However, BC generated a two-on-one that ended with senior Patrick Brown beating Witt on the glove side. This was the second shorthanded goal the Huskies allowed over the weekend while only scoring one themselves.
“We’ve got to play with a little more sense of urgency when pucks are up top,” Madigan said. “Boston College pressures you so quickly. They force you up top near the blue line, then they run you out of space and if you don’t kick it down real early, now you’re running out of space.”
Gaudreau tied the game with seven minutes left as he went behind the net and threw the puck towards the slot. The puck bounced off the inside of Witt’s skate and went into the net.
The Huskies had a flurry of shots with 40 seconds left in the game, but could not score.The Eagles scored their final goal 90 seconds into overtime. Brown got the initial shot that Witt saved. The puck then bounced to the right side, where freshman Adam Gilmour shot at an empty net for his first collegiate goal.
The Huskies’ next game is at the University of Massachusetts Lowell on Saturday.
