There’s just something about Matthew’s Arena, isn’t there? After all, it seems every time a top-ranked and highly touted team enters the building, they run into trouble.
Last Saturday, against sixth ranked New Hampshire was no different. For the sixth consecutive time (dating back to Jan 29, 1999), the Huskies held the Wildcats out of the win column at the 93-year-old structure.
“They play well here, it’s a tough place to come and win,” UNH coach Dick Umile said. “They work hard, and it’s a credit to them.”
UNH netminder Michael Ayers, fresh off a sterling 40-save performance, added to the sentiments of his coach.
“They play a tough game; a lot of the seniors haven’t won here,” Ayers said of the oldest working hockey rink in the world. “They feed off the fans a lot, but you have to expect that.”
Although the Huskies held a 41-31 advantage in shots during regulation, the overtime was controlled by UNH.
At the 2:30 mark of overtime, Wildcat leading scorer and captain Lanny Gare appeared to be bearing down on NU goalie Mike Gilhooly uncontested. However, the 6-foot, 180-pound Gare had company.
Moments before the left winger was able to uncork a shot, Husky defenseman Joe Mastronardi left his feet, diving to poke-check the puck safely into the corner.
Thirty seconds later, Gare stumbled upon the puck in front of the NU net again. His shot, however, fluttered wide after being deflected by Gilhooly.
The Husky goalie didn’t seem to know how he stopped it.
“They had us trapped in our own end for a while there in OT,” Gilhooly said. “When Gare came around that screen, I think I got the end of my stick, or glove, or something on it, but it went wide.”
After a Tim Horst goal gave UNH the lead at 5:51 mark of the second period, NU appeared to have tied the game.
Defenseman Donny Grover pinched into the offensive zone, and tossed the puck towards the net. The goal, recently vacated by Ayers after he chased a rebound well out of the crease, saw the puck deflect off a player before crossing the goal line.
“We were in a situation where we had a goal disallowed, and the kids had to deal with some adversity,” NU coach Bruce Crowder. “With a season like we’ve had, it would’ve been easy to just give up, but they kept plugging.”
Senior Mike Ryan netted the lone Northeastern goal, just seven minutes after the disallowed score.
With Ayers again out of position, forward Mike Morris fed Ryan in front.
Crowder felt his squad should’ve earned more than the 1-1 outcome. “A lot of times you look at the end of the game, and you think you deserved better. This was one of those games,” he said.
Unfortunately for Northeastern, however, the winning ways at Matthew’s don’t translate to the road. On Friday, the Huskies failed to do something they haven’t done at UNH since Feb. 28, 1998: win.
Despite a two goal comeback in the third frame, with scores by Mike Morris and Jaron Harriman, the Huskies fell 4-3.
Crowder was pleased with his team’s weekend effort. “I think we’ve battled for two nights, and it’s been a long time since we’ve done that,” he said.
Senior netminder Mike Gilhooly started both games, stopping 50 of 55 shots during the series. He was named to the Hockey East honor roll for his effort.
Next weekend, the Huskies face crosstown rival Boston College in a home-and-home series that finishes Saturday at Matthews Arena. With both teams jockeying for playoff position, the four points will be essential to each squad’s season. NU currently sits in the eighth and final Hockey East playoff spot, just a pair of points above Lowell, and six points behind Amherst. With Amherst playing a pair of games at Maine, Northeastern can gain valuable ground if they steal a few points from the Eagles.
