BURLINGTON, VT – Despite playing a hard fought, physical game and staying on Vermont’s tail throughout the night, the Catamounts proved too difficult for the Huskies. Northeastern dropped the final and deciding game of its three-game Hockey East quarterfinals contest with Vermont 4-1 yesterday.
Vermont quickly gained the advantage in the game, scoring on a shot from near the blue line by Catamount forward Brayden Irwin. The shot was rifled into the top right shelf, passing sophomore goalie Brad Thiessen’s shoulder.
After the teams skated to a scoreless second period, the Huskies responded early in the third. Senior forward Jimmy Russo took a centering pass in front of the net and managed to beat UVM goaltender Joe Fallon on his right side to even the game at one.
That goal, however, proved to be Northeastern’s only scoring play of the night, and UVM took back the lead about three minutes later on a crucial play in which UVM forward Brian Roloff stole the puck from NU freshman Wade MacLeod at the NU blue line. Roloff passed it ahead to teammate Corey Carlson at the Vermont blue line, and Carlson took the puck and skated in unhindered on a breakaway, deking out Thiessen and sending a backhand shot top shelf to score the game-winner.
Head coach Greg Cronin called it a tough play to go down on,and said he could live with a power play goal or hard-earned cycle play goal, but that a breakaway was disappointing.
“It’s a painful ending. To give up a breakaway in the third period is mind numbing,” he said. “That’s not the way to go out.”
With the momentum shifted in their favor, the Catamounts drove the nail in the coffin with a third goal with about five minutes left in the game. Roloff found a well placed centering pass in front of the net and dumped it into the open side before the Catamounts. UVM added a fourth empty net goal with a minute left.
The best-of-three playoff series was sent to a third game after the two teams split opening matchups. UVM blanked Northeastern 1-0 Friday night before the Huskies responded the next night with a 2-1 overtime victory. The pair of squads were playing for the right to advance to the Hockey East semifinals, which are to be held at the TD Banknorth Garden starting Friday.
In last Friday’s affair, both squads played a tight defensive game characterized by a lack of shots and quality scoring opportunities. The Huskies were stifled by a tight Vermont defense and managed to put just 20 shots on Fallon, who recorded his third shutout in his last 15 starts.
The game’s lone goal came from Vermont forward Colin Vock, who netted the game-winner in the second period on a shot from outside the right circle as he came into the zone on a two-on-one break.
Needing a win to extend their season the next night, the Huskies came out playing a more offensively charged game Saturday, this time sending 32 shots Fallon’s way. Vermont scored first in Saturday night’s match but the Huskies tied it in the second on the power play, where the team had struggled the night before, as sophomore forward Kyle Kraemer took a shot that managed to find its way in off a Vermont defenseman’s skate for the goal.
From there, neither team found a way to take the lead in regulation and the game headed into a tense overtime period. Three and a half minutes in, Vermont scored a goal that sent the arena into a frenzy and appeared to give the Catamounts the series. However, the goal was waved off due to an interference call and the Huskies were given second life.
About a minute after that play, junior forward Dennis McCauley, who had not seen ice time in the team’s previous three games, gathered a rebound in front of Fallon and poked the puck through the Vermont goaltenders legs, giving Northeastern its much needed victory and pushing the series to the win-or-go-home third game.
“Strathman just put a shot on from the right, and I just happened to be in front for the rebound, luckily enough,” he said. “I just have to hand it to [junior forward Ryan] Ginand and Kraemer, because they gave me the opening right off that faceoff and got the puck up to Strathman. It was just a hell of a play.”
The season, however, came to an end with the loss last night. Junior forward Joe Vitale said he thought that, on the whole, the team put out a strong performance, but ran into a Vermont team with a slight edge.
“For the most part we executed our game plan. I thought we played pretty well, but they just played a little better,” he said.
Russo echoed these sentiments, saying he thought the team gave their all despite the disappointing final outcome.
“I thought the team worked hard from the drop of the puck the first night,” he said.
Coaches and players also expressed confidence in their chances for moving on to next season and building on the success they experienced at times this year.
“We had a terrific year. We made positive steps. There’s a lot of good things to build from this group,” Cronin said. “We have some good pieces there to move on with.”
Russo, the team’s lone senior, finished his Husky career with 53 points. He said he thought the team had a positive season and expressed optimism about Northeastern’s future.
“The season’s been great,” he said. “This program is getting better and better every year, it seems.”
