By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Huskies scored their first goal of Tuesday’s game against Providence College 59:27 into the game. They scored again 12 seconds into overtime to pull out a 2-1 win.
“We were talking about in [the second] intermission that they stole a point in our building so we tried to steal one in their building,” senior forward Braden Pimm said.
The Friars’ offense controlled the game in the first seven minutes, outshooting the Huskies 7-2. Ross Mauermann scored for the Friars when Stefan Demopolous fired a shot that Shane Luke redirected. The puck was in the crease, where Mauermann was able to shoot it past junior goalie Clay Witt for an early 1-0 lead.
“They’re pretty good on the forecheck. They go at you and get pucks to the net,” Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan said. “That’s what they were doing to us and we weren’t ready to start the game. We talked to our guys about that, and making sure we were ready for the first 10 minutes, because they try to influence the tempo of the game early. We didn’t respond.”
Northeastern picked up the intensity after Providence’s goal. Freshman defenseman Matt Benning fired a slap shot through traffic that hit the left post, and sophomore forward Kevin Roy broke up a two-on-one opportunity with a stick check towards the end of the first period.
The Husky forecheck was strong in the second period and freshman forward Tanner Pond and junior forward Adam Reid began to find an offensive rhythm. Reid fired a shot that Gilles just caught a piece of with his left skate.
Witt kept the Huskies in the game, making 38 saves with 17 of them coming in the third period.
“[Witt’s] a very good goalie,” Madigan said. “He’s very athletic which allows him to come across the crease like that and make those types of saves. He’s focused, he had a very good first half, and I thought coming back from break is hard for goalies; you lose your timing and rhythm and I thought he did against Air Force. He’s come back and played very well. He’s given us a chance to win every game. That’s what this league is about, one goal games.”
Witt made two big saves in the third period that kept the Huskies in the game. First, he denied Providence forward Trevor Mingoia from going post to post. He later made a save by taking away the bottom of the net as forward Nick Saracino tried to shoot the puck upstairs.
“When he made a save sprawling across, I went to our guys on the bench and said, ‘hey, that’s the save we needed that’s going to allow us to win this game,” Madigan said. “So, don’t give up, keep plugging away.'”
Witt was pulled with about a minute left in regulation and Madigan took a time out. Following that, Pimm took a pass from freshman John Stevens, sped through the neutral zone, and fired the shot from inside the blue line to tie the game.
“First one, I just picked up a lot of speed going through the neutral zone,” Pimm said. “I just wanted to get it on net. Gilles is a very good goaltender, so I was just trying to get a puck on net below the pads and luckily I think the [defender] got a stick on it, it came up a little, and I was lucky it got in.”
In overtime, junior defenseman Josh Manson forced a turnover in the neutral zone. Roy took the puck and passed to Pimm, who was behind the defense. He fired a wrist shot over Gilles’ shoulder for the game winner. The two goals occurred in just 45 seconds of game time.
“Kevin gave me a beautiful pass and I kind of kicked it up off my skate,” Pimm said. “I know Gilles is a pretty big goaltender, so I just tried to get it up.”
The Huskies play the University of Massachusetts Lowell at Fenway on Saturday.
