BOSTON – So much for momentum.
After a promising stretch where Northeastern won four of their previous five games and captured their first weekend sweep of the season over Vermont, the Huskies were hoping to continue the momentum in Hockey East action against Merrimack Saturday night. Despite a valiant late-game surge, the Huskies fell short, losing 4-3 in a gritty contest that had them working down to the wire.
With goaltender Cam Whitehead sporting a .947 save percentage in the new year and Williams leading the way with 10 points in his past five games, the Huskies had plenty of reasons to believe that Saturday’s matchup against Merrimack could go differently than their 4-1 defeat at Lawler Rink on Dec. 14.
But the Warriors came out swinging in the first period, setting a physical tone and forcing the Huskies into mistakes early on. Northeastern was caught on their heels, but seemed to find their footing after a couple of minutes of play.
A critical moment came just four minutes into regulation, when grad student defender Jake Boltmann took a tripping penalty, sending the Huskies to their first penalty kill of the night.
The Huskies PK has been steadily improving, but any excitement from their success was cut short when Merrimack’s Ethan Bono slipped the puck right past Whitehead and into the back of the net.
After the opening goal, Northeastern seemed to be taking every shot they could find, even the wrong ones. They were desperately trying to keep up with Merrimack, and eventually found solace when junior forward Cam Lund managed to tie the game and score on the power play with an assist from freshman Joe Connor.
The period ended with the Huskies dominating in shots on goal, a 21-12 advantage, but the game remained tied. Momentum seemed to be up for grabs, and the incoming period set the stage for a competitive battle.
And that battle was won by the Warriors.
The second period resulted in a 4-1 score up on the board. Merrimack caught the Huskies off guard early when Josef Mysak sniped it from the blue line right past Whitehead and into the net.
After a penalty on Nick Rhéaume for interference, the Huskies failed to kill the penalty and got scored on once again, making it three goals for Merrimack, this one coming off the stick of defender Seamus Powell.
One of the toughest moments of the game came when Whitehead lagged and Merrimack’s Caden Cranston capitalized, adding a fourth goal for the Warriors. At that point, it felt like the Huskies were playing catch-up, desperate to claw back into the game.
“We just can’t make the mistakes we made in the second period. Terrible on the PK, stupid penalty, a face off loss for a goal,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe.
Despite the 4-1 deficit entering the third, Northeastern wasn’t going to go quietly.
With the game seemingly slipping away, the Huskies dug deep and managed to answer back. Defender Vinny Borgesi, assisted by Hryckowian, slotted a goal past Merrimack’s goaltender, giving the Huskies some life and reducing the lead to 4-2.
With the game winding down, Northeastern’s offense seemingly came alive, but it was too little too late.
“They played hard obviously,” Keefe said. ”But we were down by three goals in that third period so that’s how we had to play.”
As the clock ticked down under three minutes, the Huskies pulled Whitehead for the extra attacker, throwing everything they had at the Merrimack net. After a barrage of shots, Connor managed to slip one past Merrimack’s Lundgren, making it 4-3. With just over two minutes left, Northeastern was desperate for a tie, but their attempts proved fruitless.
Despite their valiant efforts in the waning minutes of the game, the Huskies’ display on Saturday night can only be described as disappointing.
“Didn’t feel like we had a lot of guys playing very well tonight. We can’t just have four guys,” Keefe said. “We have to figure it out and we have to figure it out fast,” said Keefe.
Northeastern is back in action next Friday, as they travel to Maine to play the Black Bears at the Alfond. Amelia Ballingall and Luke Graham will have live coverage from Orono on 104.9 FM. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m.