By Dan McLoone, News Staff
As the clock ticked down to quadruple zeros on Friday night to end a furious comeback attempt by Vermont, the Husky squad skated out to celebrate around their goaltender Clay Witt. The 3-2 victory served multiple purposes for Hockey East’s surprise contender. On one hand, it secured the Husky’s seventh conference win and gave them sole possession of second place. On the other hand, the game itself reinforced just how valuable Witt has been to the Northeastern team this year.
This season has been full of interesting storylines, primarily the fact that the Huskies are contending in a conference where they were projected to finish in the cellar. Kevin Roy’s fantastic all-around play, Braden Pimm’s recent hot streak and the stellar performances of the team’s freshmen have also been topics of discussion. But the real MVP has been Witt.
Head coach Jim Madigan went into the preseason with no clear cut goalie. Witt was an option, along with redshirt freshman Derick Roy and senior Bryan Mountain. Witt played well enough to earn the starting nod and has not looked back since. He has started all but five of Northeastern’s 24 games and has put a stop to the late game defensive bleeding that has occasionally reared its head. The Husky team has relied heavily on his shot blocking to hang on to late leads, and that’s just what Witt has helped the entire team do: hang on.
Statistically, Witt is by far the best goalie in Hockey East. He has made 658 saves, over 70 more than Maine’s Martin Ouellette, who has the second highest total. He has a .943 save percentage, second in Hockey East behind University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Connor Hellebuyck and his .946 average. Hellebuyck, however, has only made 365 saves while giving up 21 goals in significantly less minutes, splitting time with fellow Lowell goalie Doug Carr. Witt has earned his stripes this season while being peppered with shots, and has been very effective at preventing most of them from going.
Friday night showed perfectly how much Witt means to the Huskies. Up 3-0 in the third period, Witt had a shutout going until Vermont netted two goals in the span of about two minutes, cutting the deficit to one. When it mattered most, however, he kept his cool and prevented the tying goal, and that’s all the team has needed. With a defense that has given up many shots, Witt’s presence in the net has been the most crucial factor to Northeastern’s accomplishments. As the Huskies celebrated following the win, Clay Witt was right where he’s proven that he belongs: at the heart and center of his team’s success.
