Huskies Stun #5 Terriers 3-2

Northeastern Gets First Win Over Rival Since 2005

By Keith Lavon

Northeastern (13-16-5, 9-13-5) has struggled with Boston University (18-7-9, 13-6-8) over the past two seasons. They were swept by the Terriers last year and already had lost to them twice this season. But time are changing on Huntington Avenue. The Huskies already won almost five times as many games as they did last season, and came ever so close to a .500 record. Tonight, on senior night, the Huskies got back on track after a rough weekend versus UMass and defeated BU by a score of 4-2. Northeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first and never lost the lead through out the rest of the game, no matter how hard the Terriers pressed.

“You could tell when we went into to address the team before the game you could see they were ready to play.” Northeastern head coach Greg Cronin said after the game, “When we play hard and we play smart, we are a hard team to play against.”

“I think its guys that want to play hard and win their last regular season game going into the playoffs. They did it, we didn't.” a reserved Jack Parker said after the game. “I think we've played great on the road all year , this is our only second road loss on the road all year long...most of the time John Curry stands on his head till we get going, that didn't happen tonight. We left him out to dry.”

Freshmen forward Kyle Kraemer netted his first of two goals at 13:41 of the first period beating BU goalie John Curry five-hole. Jimmy Russo and Aaron Moore collected assists. It was Moore's first point of the season in only his second game. The goal by NU broke a scoring drought of 133 minutes and 22 seconds of being held scoreless by the Terriers.

“The first goal was our system play, we chipped it up the board and made it two on one. Curry is a great goalie and I was going to go glove, but changed my mind at the last second and decided to go five-hole.” Kyle Kraemer said.

Northeastern continued a tough, physical brand of hockey through out the first and then Northeastern stuck again at 17:30 when Chad Costello sent a cross-ice pass to Joe Vitale who nailed a slap shot past Curry sending the announced crowed of 2,956 into a frenzy. The goal was Vitale's 7^th of the year. Dennis McCauley also got an assist.

Going into the locker rooms the Huskies had out played, out hustled, and out worked the Terriers for a majority of the period and also had a two goal lead. The last time NU carried a two goal lead into the locker room after the first, the Terriers battled back and ended up winning that game by a score of 4-3.

BU answered in the second with a goal of their own at 9:09. It was a power-play goal as Jimmy Russo was in the box for the Huskies. Matt Gilroy shot a puck through traffic that found its way to the back of the net as NU goalie Brad Thieseen was screened by more than a couple of players. Pete MacArthur and Bryan Ewing added assists of their own on the extra man tally.

About a minute later NU scored again when Bryan Esner made a brilliant move on the BU defense leaving Kyle Kraemer all alone in front of the net. Esner fired of a pass to Kraemer who tapped it behind the a sprawled Curry. Louis Liotti also got an assist. This made the score 3-1 and that is where it would stand for the rest of the second period as the end to end rushes continued for both teams.

“This goal was all Bryan Esner. It was a four on four goal, he used his speed and flew by the whole D. The D let me go, the goalie went at Bryan and Bryan passed it across. That goal was all him. I did the easy part, I just tapped it in.

It was around this time in the second that BU defender Kevin Shaeffer was seen hobbling off the ice. Shaeffer suffered a knee injury and missed the rest of the game and is expected to miss at least a few weeks. Also to note, Northeastern senior captain Mike Morris, who has been out of the line up for the past few games is also not expected to return the rest of the season due to injury, this is according to head coach Greg Cronin.

Headed into the third with a two goal lead the Huskies seemed to be content to sit back on defense but the Terriers managed to break through and add another goal on the visitor side of the score board. Pete MacArthur took a shot from the point in which Brad Thieseen made the easy save by kicking the puck away. Unfortunately for Thieseen, he kicked it right to a surprised Bryan Ewing who just pushed it right back at the net and scored. Eric Gryba also got an assist.

Holding onto the one goal lead the Huskies shifted their focus to defense but in the end penalties would be the end of the Terriers. In the last four minutes of the game the Terriers got two penalties which severely limited their offensive chances.

Senior Bryan Esner put the final nail in the coffin and secured the win for the Northeastern Huskies with an empty net goal at 19:45. It was a fitting send of for a senior class that has gone through significant adversity including a coaching change and last years three win season. Another senior, Ray Ortiz got an assist.

“We beat a good team, and won the last game at home, it just feels good” senior Bryan Esner said after the game.

On the night Brad Thieseen made 30 saves and John Curry made 25 in his final regular season game. The BU power-play went 1-3 and NU went 0-6. Northeastern senior defensemen Steve Birnstill was a +4 on the night as he was on the ice for all Northeastern goals and none of the BU strikes. This also is the first win over the Terriers for Northeastern head coach Greg Cronin inlcuding the time he was the interim coach at Maine.

Both teams have now concluded regular season play and will be watching this weekend to find out who they will be playing. Northeastern will finish 7^th in conference and BU will either finish 2^nd or 3^rd depending on how BC does against UNH. BU could be hosting NU in first round playoff play if UNH sweeps Boston College.