BOSTON — The Providence Friars and the Northeastern Huskies came into Saturday’s game filled with confidence, having bested opponents the week prior. The Friars won against UMass Lowell on Sunday and Northeastern won both games of a home-and-home against Merrimack.
The confidence was evident as both teams started the game off filled with energy. It took only three minutes for Northeastern’s Jayden Struble to fire a shot into the back of the net past Providence pipe protector Jaxson Stauber.
The Huskies played strong throughout the first half of the first period, barely letting Providence control the puck and beating them in most faceoffs.
But then Providence had a scrappy play in front of the net, and one slipped by Husky goaltender Connor Murphy, tying the game. The goal was technically scored by Matt Koopman, although all five of the Friars on the ice had some hand in it.
Entering the second period Northeastern needed to regain the energy and speed they had at the start. But with Aidan McDonough serving out a slashing penalty, the team struggled to find its confidence. After spending too much time in their defensive zone, they couldn’t stop Providence forward Uula Ruikka from finding the back of the net and putting the Friars in front, 2–1.
This was the wake-up call the Huskies needed, and they answered with a textbook breakout. A pass from Struble to Matt DeMelis seamlessly found the tape on freshman Ty Jackson’s stick. Jackson weaved between the Friar defenders as if they were traffic cones, and fired a shot right into the back of the net to re-tie the score.
In order for the Huskies to stand a chance at winning the third period, they needed to get more shots on goal. And that’s exactly what they did. On multiple occasions, the Huskies shot rebound after rebound, hitting it directly to Stauber or getting unlucky as Stauber would save the puck or deflect it away from any Northeastern forwards.
But 17 minutes into the third period, Zach Solow finally beat Stauber, breaking the tie and taking back the lead for the first time since the first period. On the shot, Solow broke his stick and created a legendary celly, warming his hands over the tinder of his broken stick.
With only a minute left, Providence answered, pulling Stauber and adding another skater. They capitalized on a face-off win and snuck a puck by Murphy.
After a five-minute overtime, the score remained tied, so Bucheler, McDonough, and Solow all took a turn in a shootout. Bucheller fired it right at Stauber, McDonough found the back of the net with ease, and Solow, trying for his second goal of the day, took a fast approach to the shootout but shot it right into Stauber’s glove.
After a strong performance, it was only poetic that Murphy saved all three shots in the overtime shootout to seal the game.
The game goes down as a tie for record purposes, meaning Northeastern sits at 2–0–1 and Providence at 1–2–1. But the shootout win also counts as two points for Northeastern — as opposed to one for Providence and three for a regulation win.
Northeastern will travel to Providence tomorrow to finish the home-and-home in Schneider Arena. Puck drop is 3:30 PM Eastern.