Northeastern men’s hockey (1-1, 0-0 HE) fell to the West Point Army (1-0-1, 0-0 Atlantic Hockey America) 2-1 Oct. 10 during its Skating Strides Breast Cancer Awareness game. Despite multiple close attempts, the Huskies could not find the equalizer in their second game.
“We didn’t take care of business at home, and it’s a disappointing loss,” said head coach Jerry Keefe. “I didn’t think we started the game the way we needed to start the game, especially at home, and we got to find a way to put the puck in the net.”
Northeastern outshot Army 32 to 23 overall but struggled to find the back of the net, a recurring theme throughout last season.
The Army’s 17 blocks and sophomore goalie J.J. Cataldo’s 31 saves — which earned him a .969 save percentage — contributed to the Huskies’ struggle to score.
Despite looking discombobulated throughout the first period, Army outshot the Huskies 13 to seven. The penalty from senior defenseman Joaquim Lemay helped West Point increase this number during its power play. Luckily for Northeastern, the Army were unable to score during those two minutes.
Freshman forward Billy Batten claimed the first goal of the night. Senior defenseman Jude Brower sniped a shot from between the top of the right circle and the blue line, bouncing off of Batten into the net with six minutes to go in the opening period.
Northeastern tied the game in the second period with nine minutes left.
After a scramble in the crease, the puck was pushed out by the Army to senior defenseman Austen May, who collected the puck and sailed it through the air into the net. This was May’s first goal as a Husky but his ninth collegiate goal, with the other eight netted during his time as a Providence Friar.
Soon after, the Huskies had a chance to take the lead, but no one could finish the rebound.
“I thought we were getting to the net more. I thought we hunted the puck harder in the second period,” Keefe said. “We stayed on the puck more in the offensive zone, and that’s the way we need to start the game though. That was the plan going into the game, and it took us too long to get there.”
In the third period, a fight between the Huskies and Army sent Northeastern’s junior forward Eli Sebastian to the box for roughing. Penalties were also sustained by West Point’s sophomore forward Adam Marshall for hooking and senior forward Trevor Smith for roughing.
With more Army players in the box, Northeastern was put on the power play, but nothing came from these two minutes.
Six minutes after the end of the power play, sophomore forward Jack Ivey took a shot from inside the right circle, tallying his 11th career goal and giving West Point a 2-1 lead.
In the last nine minutes, Northeastern took eight shots in an attempt to even the score but nothing came from them, even with the extra attacker that was added in the last two minutes.
With the two goals allowed, Northeastern junior goaltender Lawton Zacher received a .913 save percentage after saving 21 pucks from entering the net. The Huskies took 11 blocks, with May, senior defenseman and captain Vinny Borgesi, freshman forward Jacob Mathieu and sophomore defenseman Jack Henry all taking two blocks.
“I thought Zacher was good, but still, I don’t think we gave up a lot there in the second and third period,” said Keefe. “I don’t know how many shots they had. Maybe quality shots, they didn’t have many at all in the last two periods, but yet they found a way to get a goal.”
Next weekend marks the beginning of two games a weekend. The Huskies take on University of Massachusetts (3-0, 0-0 HE) Friday, Oct. 17 at 7 p.m. in Amherst. Then, on Saturday, Oct. 18, Northeastern will play Harvard University (0-0, 0-0 ECAC) in an exhibition game at 5 p.m.
