Northeastern Shuts Out UNH to Advance in Friendship Four

(Photo: William Cherry/Presseye)

Going into Friday’s matinee game against the University of New Hampshire Wildcats, Coach Jim Madigan commented that the Northeastern University Huskies would not underestimate the Wildcats, who have been struggling a bit in the month of November.

Though the game was being played close to 3,000 miles away from Boston, home to the Huskies who were the home team in the tilt, there were two very important Hockey East divisional points on the line in addition to the winner going to the Championship game to be played Saturday night.

The first period showed that both teams were perhaps adjusting to the travel, despite having been in Northern Ireland since the beginning of the week. Although for some of the players it could also have been the raucous cheering from the many school children in attendance from some of the schools that they visited, which was a new experience.

It wasn’t until the second period that there was any scoring and it came off the stick of the Huskies’ captain, Ryan Shea, who came into the tournament with ten points from ten assists, seven of which he notched in November. He was still looking for his first goal on the season, so he was happy to garner that one. His shot from the slot opened up the scoring, with an assist from Matt Filipe.

Twelve minutes later the Huskies were up by two goals. Once again Ryan Shea was involved from the high slot. He was originally credited with the goal, and then it was discovered that it was deflected by Zach Solow, though that wasn’t updated on the reports at press time. However, for the Huskies it meant a little breathing room as they went into the second intermission up by two goals.

“I think I played, that was probably one of my better games this year. I got the first goal out of the way. It was kinda hanging over my head for a little bit. So, thank god that happened. But I think I came to play tomorrow, I mean today. I just got to bring the same [ethic] tomorrow,” Shea said after the game.

“Ryan’s been good all year long, and he’s had more opportunities this year to get into offensive situations. And you know, he had a goal and two assists there. Initially we thought he had the two, but Zach Solow had deflected one. But he‘s been a stalwart first defensively for three years. You know, getting the opportunity this year to contribute offensively. And he’s doing a good job for us, five-on-five and power play,’ said Huskie’s head coach Jim Madigan.

Despite having been outshot by the Wildcats in the first two periods and expecting a major push from UNH going into the third, it was actually the Huskies who outshot the Wildcats in the third 10-6. UNH did struggle in the third staying out of the penalty box, garnering eight penalties throughout the box, with five of those coming in the second and third periods. And it’s hard to get much traction to try and change the game when always having to play down a man.

In the third period, at almost exactly the same time as in the second, Northeastern notched their third goal at 6:46 of the final frame putting them up 3-0. This time the goal came from TJ Walsh with assists from John Picking and Ryan Shea, who had his second three-point game in the month.

The Huskies weren’t done though. Picking potted his own goal of the game at 10:07 giving Northeastern an impressive lead. And goaltender Craig Pantano continued to play impressively between the pipes to deny the Wildcats any chance of getting on the score board through the final minutes.

“I think we played the right way. You know, we were managing pucks well. We were protecting pucks. You know, the guys really bought into what we wanted to do. Blocked shots and just played the right way,” said Picking. “[UNH] came out pretty hard, but we knew that was gonna happen. You know, there’s a lot at stake with the tournament. So, we weathered the storm and then got back to work.”

Huskies head coach commented on the start of the game and how his players were able to buckle down and get at what was important.

“I thought first period we did a few good things and we were a little inconsistent in the first. And you know, guys just trying to get their legs and whatnot. And then you know, in the second and third period, I thought we were really good. You know, in terms of anything being said in between first intermission, was just like, ‘We got our legs now guys, you know, let’s continue to pressure the puck.’ I didn’t think we were consistent in pressuring the puck in the first period, and then in the second and third period, we did a real good job doing that,” Coach Madigan said.

For the Wildcats, despite having outshot the Huskies in the first two periods, it was anything but a good game for them.

“Our participation, I’m not sure it was there. Now credit to Northeastern. They outplayed us. We were disappointed. I don’t know what else to say other than that. Not happy with any part of our game today,” said Wildcats head coach Mike Souza about his team. “I just thought we had an unwillingness to hold onto the puck, to make plays. I mean we’ve been up and down at that. Last week we were good with it, managed the puck. And you know, they’re opportunistic. They’ve got skilled players, and if you let Madden and Shea and some of these guys handle the puck, they’re gonna make plays and they did.”

Of course, both teams must reset for tomorrow’s matchups which were determined in the second game, when the Colgate Raiders beat the Princeton Tigers 3-1. The UNH Wildcats will take on Princeton in the consolation game in the afternoon and then Northeastern will face Colgate for the championship game.