by Joe Barbito
BOSTON, MA – After a crippling defeat in Chestnut Hill on Friday, the Huskies rebounded with a huge performance highlighted by 41 saves from sophomore goaltender Cayden Primeau.
Going into the third period up 1-0, Northeastern exploded for three goals to seal the envelope on Saturday night’s game. Senior defenseman Eric Williams broke the all-time program record for career games played by appearing in his 151st game – all consecutive – and his 85th career victory.
Scoring opened up just 2:56 into regulation when freshman defenseman AJ Villella rifled a shot from the point that beat junior goaltender Joseph Woll cleanly. The top-shelf snipe was the first career goal for Villella; junior defenseman Ryan Shea and junior forward Grant Jozefek each picked up assists on the goal.
Each team committed one minor penalty in the first period but both penalty kills were up to the task. Williams and senior forward Liam Pecararo had a few good looks on Woll, but the St. Louis native stood tall and played a fantastic game full of circus saves. On the other end, Boston College found a few cracks in the armor of Northeastern’s penalty kill and forced Primeau to get acrobatic.
The second period would come and go without a tally, but both goaltenders made save after save. On numerous occasions both netminders found themselves defending odd-man rushes and partial breakaway chances. Boston College recorded double digit shots in every period. Northeastern was very slow to get going in the middle frame, giving Woll a chance to catch his breath.
At the end of the second period, senior forward Pat Schule was sent to the penalty box with just over a minute left to go. After being released from the sin bin a minute into the third period, he went to work in the neutral zone, picking up the puck and leading the charge into the offensive end of the ice. Schule headed to the faceoff dot, ripped a shot on Woll, picked up his own rebound and deposited the loose change in the back of the net for his 10th of the year.
Senior forward Brandon Hawkins picked up the third – and game-winning – goal at 4:33 of the third, and junior forward Austin Plevy tacked on an insurance goal at the 13:29 mark. Jozefek recorded assists on both goals bringing his point total on the night to three, and freshman defenseman Jordan Harris tacked on two apples to add to his impressive season.
Junior forward David Cotton and sophomore forward Aapeli Rasanen each earned a garbage time goal at the end of regulation Cotton’s goal was his 20th.
After today’s games Northeastern now sits tied for 2nd with Providence, the Huskies have more wins than the Friars though. They are up to 11 in the Pairwise.
The regular season will conclude on Friday at Historic Matthews Arena when the Huskies host the New Hampshire Wildcats. Puck drop will be at 7pm.