By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Northeastern men’s hockey team traveled to South Bend, Ind. last weekend to take on Hockey East newcomer Notre Dame. The Huskies split the weekend series and now have four wins in in the Fighting Irish’s new arena, the most wins of any visiting team.
Junior goalie Clay Witt entered the weekend second in the nation in save percentage with a stellar .943. He continued his excellent season when he posted a shutout on Friday night.
“I thought our mental approach to tonight’s game was good,” coach Jim Madigan said. “Everyone focuses on the shots, but going into that third period with four goals, we played smart, I thought, and didn’t give them much. A lot of their offense came off their power play in the third period. Clay Witt played really well. Again, we were opportunistic on getting some goals. I liked the way the Hedges-McMurtry-Reid line played. They possessed pucks down low and two of these plays were for goals.”
Junior forward Adam Reid started the scoring six minutes into the game when he blocked a shot from the point, then sped down the ice with sophomore forward Mike McMurtry. Reid made Notre Dame goaltender Steven Summerhays go low, then beat him up top on the left side for an early 1-0 Northeastern lead.
Reid struck again 2:30 later. Freshman forward Dalen Hedges and McMurtry were involved in a scrum behind the net. Hedges emerged with the puck, and passed to Reid who was at the top of the crease. Reid fired it in past Summerhays. This was Reid’s first career two-goal game.
“[McMurtry and I] make our best plays when we move our feet on the forecheck,” Reid said. “If we’re not moving our feet, we can’t get our heart in the forecheck and start disrupting their defense and make plays that way.”
Notre Dame generated some offense late in the period, but Witt and the defense were able to stop them. The Fighting Irish had a power play with about two minutes left in the first period. Notre Dame surged, but the Huskies killed the penalty.
The Huskies went on the power play less than two minutes into the second period. Freshman forward John Stevens passed to freshman forward Mike Szmatula in the slot, who blasted it in for a 3-0 Northeastern lead.
McMurtry scored the final Northeastern goal with eight minutes left in the second period. In a similar play to the second goal, Hedges fought with a defender for the puck behind the net, passed it to McMurtry, who shot it past Summerhays. The Huskies scored four goals on seven shots, resulting in Summerhays being pulled.
Notre Dame got some offense late in the third period on the power play, but the Huskies’ defense held on and Witt earned his third shutout of the season.
Saturday’s game was a different story as Notre Dame shut out the Huskies. The Huskies outshot the Fighting Irish 36-33 this time, but could not beat Summerhays.
“I liked the way our guys played,” Madigan said. “They played hard, they competed. We played hard right to the end. We didn’t get any puck luck tonight. We were around the net, I thought we had some good chances, we just couldn’t find the net… But I liked the way we played right to the end of the game. It’s a mentality that we’ve been trying to work with and our guys showed it tonight.”
The Fighting Irish scored their first goal six minutes into the game. They recovered a loose puck in the neutral zone and skated down ice. Sophomore forward Mario Lucia skated down the left side and passed to freshman forward Vince Honostroza, who fired a shot above Witt’s right shoulder.
Notre Dame went on the power play halfway through the first period. The Fighting Irish scored just 15 seconds into the man advantage after passing the puck around the zone before it got to Lucia, who knocked it in from the right post.
Junior forward Peter Schneider scored the final goal for Notre Dame five minutes into the second period. The Huskies went on a power play, but Schneider jumped on a loose puck in the neutral zone and had a breakaway. He faked right before firing a shot under the crossbar for the shorthanded tally.
The Huskies’ next game is the first semifinal game of the 62nd Beanpot Tournament. Northeastern will take on Harvard University at 5 p.m. Monday.
“I’m smart enough to know there is no favorite in this tournament,” Madigan said. “To me, if there’s a favorite, it’s Boston College based on their record and how good their club is. But in this tournament, I’ve just seen too many times teams come in, might not have had the greatest season they wanted to date, but made this their season and jump started their season with this tournament… It’s purely the emotion and the will on that Monday night that determines the victor.”
