By Jonathan Raymond
After a two-loss weekend to Maine, the Huskies entered this weekend with the daunting task of looking to bounce back against No. 4 New Hampshire. A 7-4 loss at Matthews Friday night didn’t help matters, but a huge road win against the Wildcats in Durham, N.H. Saturday put the team back on track.
The troubles of Friday night returned early Saturday as New Hampshire took a 1-0 lead just five minutes into the game. The resilient Northeastern squad responded nine seconds later, as freshman forward Wade MacLeod notched his second goal in as many nights to tie it.
Junior captain Joe Vitale sent another one home late in the first period, and the team rode the excellent play of sophomore goaltender Brad Thiessen, who had 23 saves on the night, the rest of the way for the 2-1 victory.
“It was obviously a huge road win for us,” said head coach Greg Cronin. “We’d lost four straight games, and all four games we lost I thought we had a chance to win. [Last night] was a game that easily could’ve deflated us. We’ve got a young team, we’ve got one senior. Learning how to win is a process, and tonight was a huge step for us, just to try and inject the team with some believability.”
Cronin said it was crucial that the team was able to slow down the game after it had allowed the night before to turn into a shootout.
“I thought they put on a show last night that no team has done to us this year,” he said. “So that was the key tonight, was just to keep them at bay and make it a vanilla game.”
For the Huskies, who improved to 2-4 (2-3 Hockey East), it was their first win against New Hampshire since Feb. 15, 2002, and their first road win against the Wildcats in nearly a decade, the last having been Feb. 28, 1998. Vitale, who now has five points in his last three games, said this was a big hurdle to overcome.
“It means something. [The Whittemore Center] is a difficult place to play. Not many teams come in here and get a win,” he said. “We played defense, we stuck to the system, stayed disciplined, and if we do that we can win some games this year.”
Thiessen’s performance was a big turnaround in Durham as well. Although the netminder had allowed five goals in two periods before being pulled to get some rest Friday, Cronin said he had no worries about his goalie coming into Saturday’s game.
“I talked to him about it. He’s a very mentally tough guy, he doesn’t get rattled, he’s very confident. I asked him how he was doing this morning, and he said ‘I feel great,'” he said. “He said ‘I’m ready to go,’ so it was an easy decision to make.”
The tight, disciplined win Saturday night was in stark contrast to the wild, loose loss fans witnessed at Matthews Friday. Cronin had stressed the importance of making the transition from undisciplined to sound play that night.
“We have talent, but talent without discipline is like an octopus on roller blades. There’s a lot of movement, but no definitive direction,” he said after Friday’s game. “That’s what we are right now. There’s a talented team that’s just not playing with enough discipline.”
The Huskies looked good early Friday, tying it in the second period at 2 before New Hampshire constructed an offensive onslaught that left the team at a 5-2 disadvantage heading into the third. An early third period goal made it 6-2, leaving many to feel the game was over.
Northeastern never gave up, though, and connected on two consecutive goals not more than a minute apart late in the third, to give UNH a scare and put a spark in the crowd.
“It was a strange, wild game. I think it was a fun game to watch for the spectators,” Cronin said after the loss.
The team will now prepare for yet another tough weekend of conference games. Vermont and cross-town rival Boston University visit Matthews Friday and Saturday night, respectively. Pucks drop for both games at 7 p.m.
