ORONO, Maine — Lucas Lawson scored four goals and Martin Kariya tied a school record with five assists and six points as Maine dismantled Northeastern 7-1 before a crowd of 4,934 at Alfond Arena.
Lawson’s four goals were overshadowed by Kariya who assisted on three of Lawson’s and tied a record that both Paul and Steve Kariya, Martin’s brothers, accomplished.
‘?I love that line,’ said Maine coach Tim Whitehead on his first line of Lawson, Kariya and Gray Shaneberger. ‘?They’re playing super well right now.’
NU, which falls to 1-9-1 in Hockey East, struggled in the its own zone. Maine created Husky turnovers by intercepting passes and sending passes ahead for some uncontested breakaways.
‘?We made some mistakes tonight that hurt us,’ said an obviously frustrated NU coach Bruce Crowder. ‘?We have some things we need to put in the blender and start again.’
The Huskies had to play the game minus top winger Mike Morris who received a concussion in practice.
‘?I don’t think Mike would have scored six goals for us,’ Crowder said. ‘?There will be some changes tomorrow night but it’s not like we’re the Providence Bruins.
Tim Heneroty got the start in net for the Huskies after Crowder and the NU coaching staff suspended goalie Keni Gibson for an obscene gesture the sophomore goalie made to the Boston University fans following his ejection in Sunday’s 7-2 loss at Walter Brown Arena.
Heneroty was pulled midway through the second period after giving up Lawson’s third goal on a breakaway.
Maine got off to an early start. The Black Bears opened the scoring after Donny Grover too an interference penalty. Kariya scored his 11th goal of the season when he tipped the puck past Heneroty to make it 1-0. After two good NU chances in front of Doyle, The Black Bears struck again when Lawson skated all the way down beating Jack Celeta to Heneroty’s crease and beating Heneroty far side with a backhander.
The Huskies managed to make it 3-1 when, on a power play, Scott Selig tipped home a Tim Judy slap shot from the point.
NATHE LEAVES TEAM:
Brian Nathe left the Huskies to sign with the Brandon Wheat Kings of the Western Hockey League (WHL). Nathe had three assists this season and would generally line up on the second defensemen line ‘ Freshman Mike Morris will not play this weekend after suffering a concussion in practice Thursday night. The Huskies star has four goals and 10 assists in 18 games this season. Maine came into Friday’s game ranked third in the nation (17-2-2).
‘?Brian was a country bumpkin and I think he was frustrated in the city,’ said NU coach Bruce Crowder. ‘?He was frustrated by that and he was frustrated by living at school and he was frustrated by the overall location.’
