NORTH ANDOVER – It seemed everyone was hoping for another Northeastern tie Saturday night at Lawler Arena.
Facing Merrimack for the second game of a home-and-home set, the men’s hockey team battled back from a 3-0 deficit to tie the game at 3-3. The tie score, as the 2,781 were soon about to witness, would not, and could not, budge.
There was NU first-line junior Bryan Esner escaping for a breakaway with 1:46 left in the third period only to be tripped up as he approached the net by Warrior defenseman Rob LaLonde.
There was the MC offense, skating erratically in the neutral zone, losing chance after chance after a three-goal first period.
There was the Huskies’ offense, putting on a “shooting gallery” of shots in coach Greg Cronin’s words in the final minutes and into overtime, but still came up with nothing.
There was also, of course, Peter Feola, the game’s referee. Feola made the decision to call back three Husky goals, including a potential game-winner by Husky forward Joe Santilli with a mere 11 seconds remaining in the game.
“I guess that’s just the way the puck bounces – well – the way the ref calls the game,” Santilli said after the game. His goal was called back because the net had been dislodged before the puck went in, Feola said.
Still, the Huskies (1-8-4) came from out of nowhere to leave Merrimack College (4-7-2) with a point in the standings, as freshman Ryan Ginand put in the first of three straight NU goals with just 4:16 left in the second. Sophomore Jimmy Russo followed, before Santilli tied it with 6:30 to go in the final frame.
Cronin said after the game that he’s tired of his usual team assessments.
“You know, we keep doing that, ‘we’re a resilient bunch,’ ‘we’re getting better’ and all this stuff, but we have to get some wins; this is getting old,” he said. “Let’s give MC credit. Two of their best players [forward Matt] Johnson and [defenseman Bryan] Schmidt were out. They were up 3-0, it was their third game in five nights and they played hard.”
NU junior defenseman Steve Birnstill was the unlucky beneficiary of Feola’s first two no-goal calls against the Huskies. The first came at the 2:59 mark of the second quarter, when his shot just under the post was called back due to a man in the crease.
Then, with 3:56 left in the third, Birnstill placed another great shot in the net from the top of the slot. Still, the score remained 3-3 again due to a man in the crease.
“They say a tie’s like kissing your sister, right?” Cronin said. “I’ve never seen that before; three goals disallowed. Santilli’s at the end there, all the kids on the team said the puck went in before the net moved. You know, you get to the point when you’ve got three straight goals that are disallowed and you’re thinking maybe lady luck’s not with us.”
LaLonde tripping Esner late in the third gave NU a man advantage for the final 1:46 of the contest and the opening of overtime. Despite numerous opportunities, including a Dennis McCauley shot that was hit so hard it bounced off MC goalie Jim Healey and skyrocketed up to Lawler Arena’s exhaust system, the Huskies could not produce on the power play.
In overtime, an Esner pass to Matti Uusivirta gave a wide-open look at the net, but the freshman could not get it at the goal.
“Did you see that one?” Cronin asked. “In OT, the puck squared out, Esner threw it out to him and Matti shanked the net. The goalie was at the other post and we had a wide-open net. I don’t know, it happened real quick. He pulled away and shanked it.”
Birnstill’s confident play on the power play and setting up opportunity after opportunity for the Husky offense was one of the key stories of the night.
“You know why he can do that? Because he can move in short areas and shoot it,” Cronin said of Birnstill’s ability to set the team in motion. “You’ve got to slide the puck about 18 inches and get it down there, and that’s what he did.”
MC coach Mark Dennehy saw his team lose a 3-0 lead, just as the Warriors had lost leads of 3-1 and 4-3 to NU the previous night in a 4-4 tie at Matthews Arena.
“Winning is a culture,” Dennehy said. “If you put yourself into a position when you’re leading after two periods enough, sooner or later you’re going to figure out how to keep that lead. It’s a learning process.”
NU will next face Maine on Saturday in Orono at 7 p.m. Then, the Huskies travel to Estero, Fla. for the Florida College Classic in a four-game tournament with Cornell, Maine and Minnesota-Duluth on Dec. 27 and 28.
