By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Huskies won a close contest against UMass 4-3 on Saturday in a game that featured three lead changes.
“I think in the first period we played on our heels a little bit,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “In the second period I thought we were better although we got down a little bit on that power play goal. I thought we played better and had some good opportunities. And in the third, I thought we played a lot smarter in the second half in making sure we ended up in the odd man rushes and making sure we were getting pucks deep.”
Sophomore Kevin Roy started the scoring two minutes into the game when senior Braden Pimm fired a shot. Steve Mastalerz made the initial save, but Roy scooped up the rebound, took it behind the net, and fired it in before the goalie could get back, giving the Huskies an early 1-0 lead.
“I think it was good to start with a goal pretty early,” said Roy. “After that goal we didn’t play as well and they started to come back. So, I think having that goal created a chance to feel the opponent a little without getting down a couple goals.”
The Huskies offense struggled after the initial goal.
UMass scored their first goal of the game with five minutes left in the period. Conor Sheary worked the puck from the right corner of the ice, and came across the ice. He was able to throw the ice to the net, where Branden Gracel knocked it in to make it a tie game.
UMass nearly took the lead when Gracel got a shorthanded breakaway, but sophomore goalie Clay Witt got his pad down to make the save.
UMass took the lead when the Huskies committed a turnover while leaving the zone. Sheary shot the puck. Witt made the initial save, but Steven Iacobells knocked the rebound in for a 2-1 Minutemen lead.
The Huskies offense surged following the goal. They pressured the Minutemen with 14 second period shots on goal. Roy and Pimm had multiple odd man rushes throughout the period.
“We’ve been playing together for close two years, so we know how we react and we know where we are on the ice,” said Roy. “We got a good goal. We could have had a lot more than that, but as long as we’re getting the chances in another game, we’ll get two or three goals instead of just one.”
The Huskies tied the game with 3:22 remaining in the second period when freshman Zach Aston-Reese and freshman Mike Szmatula generated a two on one. Aston-Reese passed to Szmatula, who beat Mastalerz on the top right.
The Minutemen got a power play thirty seconds later. Colin Shea took a slapshot, which Gracel redirected past Witt to give the Minutemen a 3-2 lead going into the third period.
The Huskies got a power play 20 seconds into the third period. Junior Josh Manson hit fired a shot from the blue line that bounced off a defender. Aston-Reese battled for the puck in front of the net and passed it to sophomore Mike McMurtry, who beat the goalie on the lower left side of the net to tie the game.
Freshman John Stevens forced a turnover two minutes later. He and Roy had a two on one opportunity. Brandon Wahlin was called for hooking Roy as he received a pass.
Senior Cody Ferriero gave the Huskies a 4-3 lead less than one minute later. He fired a slap shot from the point which deflected off a Minuteman defender to give the Huskies the lead.
“It was a main point for us to come out strong in the third, jump right back on them and get right on it and it was a pretty strong start,” said Ferriero. “After we got that first one, we had some pretty good legs and on that play it was just a quick pass then a play on the boards and a nice pass with traffic in front trickled in.”
The Northeastern fore check played well and prevented UMass from getting a lot of offense. The Minutemen pulled their goalie with 30 seconds left, but could not tie the game.
