By: Josh Brown
HAMDEN- The Northeastern Huskies (0-6-0) set a new program record following their 3-2 loss to Quinnipiac (3-2-1) Saturday night at High Point Solutions Arena. The defeat marked Northeastern’s worst start in program history. Unfortunately for the Huskies they added on to the feat, loosing 4-3 to Quinnipiac Sunday afternoon.
“It seems like the same pattern is happening the last three games,” said Huskies coach Jim Madigan after Saturdays game, “and this being the fourth game where we played well enough, done some good things, but haven’t found a way to get the win.”
Derick Roy got the start in both games for Northeastern, with Clay Witt still nursing an upper body injury. The sophomore stopped 57 of the 61 shots he faced on the weekend.
“I thought he played hard,” said Madigan, “I thought he played well. He’s given us a chance to win a hockey game.”
Quinnipiac drew first blood on Saturday, netting two goals less than a minute apart by junior Travis St. Denis and sophomore Devon Toews midway through the second period to give the Bobcats a 2-0 lead.
Less than two minutes later Garret Cockerill beat Quinnipiac goalie Michael Garteig on the power play to cut the deficit to one. The Bobcats would get one back on the man-advantage at the end of the period via Andrew Taverner to make it 3-1.
Northeastern would not go down without a fight, as junior Kevin Roy got his first goal of the season jamming away at a puck in the crease midway through the third.
“You’re hoping that this opens the floodgates for him,” said Madigan. We certainly need him and Szmatula, and some other guys to score…we need to make more hockey plays in and around the net.”
Unfortunately for the Huskies, Garteig stood tall denying the Huskies of a tying goal, and giving the Bobcats the 3-2 win.
Although the Huskies had a tough time getting pucks in the back of the net, that is not all Madigan wants his team to focus on moving forward.
“If you focus to much on scoring than you forget about the other parts of the game that are important to your success,” Madigan said. “D-zone coverage, neutral zone transition, neutral zone defense. It’s playing a full 60 minutes.”
The Huskies were able to get out to a better start on Sunday, thanks to a pair of Mike Szmatula goals to give the team a 2-0 lead after the first period.
A chippy second period, featuring a combined 13 penalties between the two teams (7 on Northeastern) resulted in Quinnipiac outscoring the Huskies 3-1.
A pair of Landon Smith goals tied the game at two. 31 seconds after Smith’s second Ryan Rosenthal lit the lamp to make it 3-2 Huskies. Quinnipiac was able to send the teams to the locker room tied when Taverner scored with 1:07 left in the period.
Another chippy period went in the Bobcats favor when Soren Jonzzon scored the game winning goal five minutes into the period to make it a 4-3 game.
Despite a couple of chances for the Huskies late in the game, Garteig was able to stand tall, leading Quinnipiac to the win.
“We let some discipline get away from us in the second period,” Madigan said. “It’s not where we want to be. It’s not where we drew it up, but our records our record…still a lot of confidence in that room.”
Umass-Lowell is next on the schedule for Northeastern, as the teams will play a home-and-home with the Riverhawks beginning Friday nigh in Lowell. The game can be heard on WRBB.