By Chris Judd, News Staff
The Huskies came into the weekend as the third seed in the Hockey East tournament. After two losses to Boston University, the Northeaster have now earned the fifth seed and will play a quarterfinal game at University of New Hampshire, this weekend
The Huskies lost 4-1 in the first game.
“BU was a better team start to finish,”Northeastern coach Jim Madigan said. “They outworked us, wanted it more, had better effort, better determination from the goal out. It was our worst effort of the year.”
The Terriers opened the scoring 11 minutes into the game when freshman forward Kevin Duane’s centering pass deflected off a defender. The puck went past junior goalie Clay Witt to make it a 1-0 game.
The Terriers scored again 25 seconds later when sophomore forward Danny O’Regan had the puck in the offensive zone. His shot deflected off junior defender Dax Lauwers before beating Witt through the five hole.
The Terriers took a 3-0 lead eight minutes into the second period when freshman forward Robbie Baillargeon scored.
The Huskies got on the board four minutes later when senior forward Braden Pimm scored a shorthanded goal. He stole the puck as the Terriers were approaching the crease and got a breakaway. He deked sophomore goalie Sean Maguire and got him to drop, shot behind him and made it a 3-1 game.
The Huskies went on the power play with 2:54 left and pulled Witt. The Terriers took advantage 19 seconds later after sophomore defender Ahti Oskanen cleared the puck from the red line and scored an empty net goal to give the Terriers a 4-1 win.
“This group has been great at turning the page and has shown resolve,” Madigan said. “I fully expect them to come out tomorrow and play hard.”
The Huskies played a closer game on Saturday, although they lost 4-2.
“We just made bad decisions,” Madigan said. “If someone comes at you at the blue line, you can’t try to stick handle the puck. You got to dump it down low. If someone’s coming up the wall, you got to get it down low … We tried to get too cute, and that’s not who we are. They made the plays, but we just gave it to them.”
The Terriers scored one minute in during a power play. Freshman defender Doyle Somerby fired a slap shot from the blue line. Junior goalie Clay Witt made the save, but the rebound bounced directly to sophomore forward Matt Lane. Lane shot past Witt for a 1-0 lead.
Pimm tied the game with 7:39 remaining in the first period. The Terriers turned the puck over exiting the defensive zone. Sophomore defender Jarrett Fennell passed to Pimm, who shot the puck through defenders. Sophomore goalie Matt O’Connor got his blocker glove on the puck, but it bounced over him and went into the net before he could locate it.
The Huskies took their first lead of the series with 8:31 left in the second period when they had a three-on-two rush. Sophomore forward Kevin Roy passed to freshman forward Zach Aston-Reese in the slot, who shot inside the right post to make it a 2-1 game.
BU’s Lane scored his second goal of the night three minutes later when he stole the puck from sophomore defender Colton Saucerman at the blue line. He had a breakaway, faked left and cut right to beat Witt and tie the game.
Somerby scored his first collegiate goal two minutes later when freshman forward Tommy Kelley took the puck to the net and passed to Somerby. He shot and scored to make it a 3-2 Terrier lead.
BU made it a two goal game eight minutes into the third period when freshman forward Nick Roberto and sophomore forward Mike Moran had a two-on-one rush. Roberto passed to Moran on the left, who shot inside the left post to make it a 4-2 game.
The Huskies pulled Witt with 2:56 left in the game.
They drew a power play with 1:28 left when BU defender Garrett Noonan was called for hooking.
The Huskies got some good looks on the power play but could not score. They kept the puck near the crease and had around five shots, but could not punch it through the BU defense.
“We’re going to get our own guys after this weekend back in the right mindset,” Madigan said. “We know whether it be UNH, whether it be Providence, they’re good teams. We know where we’re going to have to play well. We just got beat by a team that’s very good, but if you look at the standings, people wouldn’t think they’re that good.”
