Senior defenseman Louis Liotti doubled his career goal total in the men’s hockey team’s 3-2 overtime win against Maine Friday, netting the Huskies’ second and game-winning goals.
“He’s a great example of the program moving forward as a guy that came in as a freshman. He’s got a very, very religious commitment to developing. He’s gotten better in every aspect of his game,” head coach Greg Cronin said. “He wears an ‘A’ because he’s a man of few words, but he plays with his heart and his brain every night and he’s a positive role model for the young guys.”
The first period started with a strong Husky power play, but Maine came out strong as well and Northeastern couldn’t capitalize. The Huskies then killed two Black Bear penalties, while the Husky penalty kill remained strong, as it has all season.
With 1:01 left in the period, sophomore forward Wade MacLeod was able to sneak the puck behind the line during a scrum in front of the net. Junior defenseman Jim Driscoll and senior captain Joe Vitale assisted.
“It was kind of a very tactical game. I think both teams were very focused on defense and trying to limit the number of chances against. I thought the first period was good for us but that’s what it became,” Cronin said.
Both teams came on the ice for the second period looking for goals. The Huskies had several chances, but Maine took away all rebound chances.
Eight minutes into the period, Maine defenseman Will O’Neill took a five-minute major for hitting-from-behind and a game misconduct. Twelve seconds into the major, Liotti scored his first goal of the season to give Northeastern a 2-0 lead.
With 3:31 left in the major, Northeastern took a penalty to make it 4-on-4 play. Maine killed the remaining time in the major, and momentum shifted to the Black Bears.
Maine collected its first goal of the game with five minutes left in the second. Forward Brian Flynn had an open net off a rebound to score the goal.
Northeastern went to the box with 2:17 left to go, and seconds later junior defenseman David Strathman took a five-minute major for hitting-from-behind and a game misconduct, putting the Huskies down two men for 1:37.
Maine capitalized and scored top shelf to tie the game with 50 seconds left in the period.
“It was kind of a vanilla game,” Cronin said. “[The DogHouse] was kind of quiet. Usually you can hear the crowd and it’s kind of a steady flow. There wasn’t a lot of huge hits, there wasn’t a lot of drama in the game.”
The Huskies killed the remainder of the major, and the third period saw few good chances from either team.
Midway through the five-minute overtime period, both teams took corresponding penalties to make it 4-on-4. The Huskies capitalized, and 20 seconds later Liotti ended the game with a pass that deflected off a Maine player and into the goal.
“They’re a tough team to play against,” Liotti said. “We went up there, to Maine. We were fortunate to sweep them up there. They battled really hard. Even tonight they came out flying. They’re a good team. It was good to get the sweep.”
Friday’s home win completed Northeastern’s sweep of Maine this season, as the Huskies took both games in Orono, Maine earlier this season. The Huskies collected two important Hockey East points before heading into their winter break.
“It was huge to get the two points,” Cronin said. “We said before the game, Hockey East is going to be so tight this year that even getting a point is going to be huge when we start counting the points in March.”
Northeastern returns to the ice Friday, Jan. 2 for the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis, Minn., where the team faces Western Michigan at 5 p.m. and either Brown or Minnesota Saturday. The Huskies’ next home game is Jan. 9 against Hockey East opponent Merrimack at 7 p.m.
