By Jonathan Raymond
With a 20-day layoff between their last game at Union and their first game back from break at the Badger Hockey Showdown in Wisconsin, one might have worried that the Huskies would show a little rust.
And after Bowling Green took a 3-0 lead two minutes into the second period of the first round matchup between the teams, one might have felt justified in being worried.
But, as they’ve done all year, the men’s hockey team found a way to win. After roaring back and beating Bowling Green 4-3, they took the tournament title with a 2-1 win over Colgate. They then followed that with a 7-3 drubbing of Maine in Orono Friday that lifted the Huskies to 10-4-2 and extended their unbeaten streak to 11 games (a period during which they’ve gone 9-0-2.)
A major factor for the team has been what head coach Greg Cronin likes to call “believability,” that is, the faith and confidence in a team that leads it to believe it’s never out of a game.
The players, said junior captain Joe Vitale, have bought into the idea wholeheartedly.
“That’s the biggest thing right now. Even when we’re down one or two goals going into the second or third period nobody panics, nobody’s frantic on the bench or going nuts or worrying,” he said. “Everybody’s just like, ‘We’re going to score, it’s just a matter of when,’ and, sure enough, it always happens. There’s a lot of confidence on that bench. It’s good to see.”
The team’s confidence in its ability to fight back held true in Wisconsin with the tournament win. Down 3-0 to Bowling Green, freshman defenseman Dan Nycholat scored his first career goal as he netted an open shot from the slot on a pass from freshman forward Wade MacLeod.
Senior forward Jimmy Russo scored the second Northeastern goal about two minutes later, and five minutes into the third period he buried home his second goal of the night to even things at three.
Junior defenseman Louis Liotti scored the game winner 13 minutes into the third, sealing yet another improbable comeback for the team. The next night they faced off against Colgate and, for the first time this season, won a game in which they scored first.
The tournament final was tied at 1 when, with 1:22 left to play, junior forward Ryan Ginand scored his third goal of the season, sending home the game winner, as he was taken down by a Colgate defender.
The two wins were the team’s sixth and seventh one-goal wins of the season, something Cronin pointed toward as an indication of the team’s progress in developing a winning culture.
“I think certainly when you start to have some success and win a number of games it breathes that life into that believability,” he said. “I think what’s happened now is that we’ve learned to win close games. That’s what Hockey East is all about, a lot of one goal games, and I think the more you do it, the more you feel comfortable making the right plays and being poised in those situations.”
The 7-3 win over Maine, however, was the largest margin of victory the team has seen so far this season. Vitale had four points (1-3-4) while his linemates, freshmen forward Tyler McNeely (1-1-2) and MacLeod (2-1-3), combined for five points. Sophomore forward Randy Guzior added his team leading seventh goal and junior forward Rob Rassey scored his first goal of the season.
Sophomore goaltender Brad Thiessen continued his stellar play, allowing four goals on 53 shots for the Wisconsin tournament (earning him the honors of Most Outstanding Player of the tournament). He was also named the Hockey East Goalie of the Month for December.
At 7-3-1 in conference play with 15 points, the Huskies will look to distance themselves from New Hampshire, with whom they share first place in Hockey East, by trying to gain points in a pair of home and home matchups against Merrimack this weekend. The team will travel to North Andover Friday night before hosting the Warriors at Matthews Arena at 7 p.m. Saturday.
