Huskies sweep weekend with Merrimack
Jan. 10, 2009
Lawler Arena (North Andover, Mass.)
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | Final |
| #4 Northeastern (14-4-2, 10-2-1 Hockey East) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Merrimack (5-11-3, 2-9-2 Hockey East) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Rob Rassey had a goal and an assist, Randy Guzior scored and goaltender Brad Thiessen made 30 saves as Northeastern beat Merrimack, 2-1, to sweep the weekend series on Saturday night at Lawler Arena. The Huskies topped Merrimack by the same score on Friday night at Matthews Arena. Chris Barton scored for Merrimack in the third period.
Northeastern improved to 14-4-2 overall and 10-2-1 in Hockey East while Merrimack dropped to 5-11-3 overall and 2-9-2 in Hockey East. The Huskies are off to their best 20-game start ever.
After the play went back and forth early in the game, the Huskies lit the lamp first with Guzior's four-on-four goal at 14:52 in the first period. Defenseman Mike Hewkin passed the puck ahead to Rob Rassey, who took it into the Merrimack zone for an odd-man rush. Guzior was ahead of Rassey, and Rassey shot it ahead where Guzior tipped it. Merrimack goalie Andrew Braithwaite jumped on the puck but couldn't keep it out of the net and the Huskies took a 1-0 lead.
Guzior had another great chance during four-on-four play later in the period. With NU's Alex Tuckerman and Merrimack's Barton in the box for hitting after the whistle, Denis Chisholm passed the puck ahead to Guzior in the neutral zone and he took it in for a breakaway. This time, Braithwaite was able to make the save. Defenseman David Strathman sped into the zone a minute later and fired a shot on net that Braithwaite saved, with Merrimack's Pat Bowen taking a hooking penalty on the play. Northeastern outshot Merrimack 13-6 in the period.
Guzior appeared to score his second goal of the game when he put in the rebound of a Joe Vitale shot at 4:43 in the second period but the referees ruled he kicked the puck in. Thiessen made a great save on a breakaway by Merrimack's Jesse Todd, when he took away the low post with his pad at 7:39 in the second. Chisholm was called for slashing on the play, and the Huskies were able to kill off the penalty.
The Huskies got on the board again to make it 2-0 with Rassey's fourth goal of the season at the tail end of a power play. Northeastern won a faceoff in the Merrimack zone and Tyler McNeely got the puck along the right boards. He passed it to Louis Liotti on the far point, Liotti shot it on net and Rassey was there to score on the rebound at 13:32.
Merrimack got on the board at 13:28 in the third period when Barton tipped a Rob Ricci shot past Thiessen to make it 2-1. Todd also got an assist on the play. Ten seconds later, NU's Alex Tuckerman and Merrimack's Joe Cucci got matching minors for unsportsmanlike conduct, then NU's Steve Silva was called for boarding at 13:53, setting up 1:45 of four-on-three play in favor of Merrimack. The Warriors had several good scoring attempts, including a stretch where Thiessen made three saves in a row, and Thiessen kept them at bay.
Tuckerman had two great scoring chances that were met with two great Braithwaite saves in the third. The first came on a give-and-go with Steve Quailer and the second on a wide-open pass from Strathman behind the net.
Northeastern outshot Merrimack, 33-31, in the game and went one-for-five on power plays while Merrimack went scoreless on five advantages.
Northeastern hosts Vermont for a two-game set next Friday and Saturday at Matthews Arena. Both games start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on 890 ESPN Boston and WRBB Radio, and will have live web video on GoNU.TV.
Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Northeastern University Hockey
#4 Northeastern vs Merrimack (Jan 10, 2009 at North Andover, MA)
Northeastern (14-4-2 (10-2-1 HEA)) vs. Merrimack (5-11-3 (2-9-2 HEA))
Date: Jan 10, 2009 Location: North Andover, MA Arena: Lawler Arena
Attendance:1228 Start time:7 p.m. End time:9:07 pm Total time:2:07
# Prd Time Team Typ Scored By Assists Visitor On Ice Home On Ice
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 1st 14:52 NU EV Guzior, Randy/1 Rassey, Rob/2 13,37,28,24 8,18,2,4
Hewkin, Mike/3
2 2nd 13:32 NU PP Rassey, Rob/4 Liotti, Louis/4 37,5,94,12,6 18,21,3,26
McNeely, Tyler/7
3 3rd 13:28 MER EV Barton, Chris/5 Ricci, Rob/5 26,19,4,13,6 23,24,27,3,26
Todd, Jesse/5
TEAM SUMMARY
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Northeastern 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
3 Ginand, Ryan........ 2 1 1 4 0
4 *Driscoll, Jim....... 0 0 0 0 -1
5 Liotti, Louis....... 1 2 0 3 0
6 *Strathman, David.... 1 1 0 2 -1
7 Nycholat, Dan....... 0 1 0 1 0
10 Quailer, Steve...... 0 1 1 2 0
12 McCauley, Dennis.... 1 1 0 2 0
13*Guzior, Randy....... 3 0 1 4 0
17 Silva, Steve........ 0 1 0 1 0
19*MacLeod, Wade....... 1 0 1 2 -1
22 Costa, Greg......... 0 0 0 0 0
23 Donovan, Chris...... 1 0 0 1 0
24 Chisholm, Denis..... 0 1 0 1 +1
26*Vitale, Joe......... 1 2 1 4 -1
27 Tuckerman, Alex..... 1 0 1 2 0
28 Hewkin, Mike........ 0 0 0 0 +1
37 Rassey, Rob......... 0 1 1 2 +1
94 McNeely, Tyler...... 1 1 0 2 0
TM TEAM................ 0 0 0 0 0
30 Binnington, Mike DNP
Totals.............. 13 13 7 33 -1
|-Shots by Prd-|
## Merrimack 1 2 3 Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
2 Allan, Fraser....... 0 0 0 0 -1
3 *Loprieno, Joe....... 1 0 1 2 +1
4 Bowen, Pat.......... 0 0 0 0 -1
7 Stollery, Karl...... 0 1 0 1 0
8 Madsen, Carter...... 0 0 1 1 -1
12 Farrell, Grant...... 0 0 1 1 0
14 Cucci, Joe.......... 0 0 0 0 0
15 Jamieson, John...... 0 2 1 3 0
16 Robitaille, J.C..... 1 0 0 1 0
18 Kimball, Pat........ 0 1 1 2 -1
19 Astle, Kurtis....... 0 0 0 0 0
20 Flanigan, Ryan...... 1 0 1 2 0
21 Ouimet, Francois.... 0 0 2 2 0
22 Sadlowski, Brandon.. 0 0 0 0 0
23*Barton, Chris....... 0 1 4 5 +1
24*Ricci, Rob.......... 0 2 1 3 +1
26*Ross, Adam.......... 1 1 0 2 +1
27*Todd, Jesse......... 2 2 1 5 +1
28 Velleca, Jeff....... 0 1 0 1 0
33*Braithwaite, Andrew. 0 0 0 0 0
TM TEAM................ 0 0 0 0 0
35 Cannata, Joe DNP
Totals.............. 6 11 14 31 +1
Goals by Period
Team 1 2 3 Tot
-------------------
NU 1 1 0 - 2
MER 0 0 1 - 1
Shots by Period
Team 1 2 3 Tot
-------------------
NU 13 13 7 - 33
MER 6 11 14 - 31
Power Play G-Att (Shots)
Prd NU MER
-----------------------------
1st 0-2 (2) 0-2 (2)
2nd 1-2 (4) 0-2 (3)
3rd 0-1 (3) 0-1 (2)
Total 1-5 (9) 0-5 (7)
Penalties/Minutes by Prd
Prd NU MER
-------------------------
1st 3/6 4/8
2nd 2/4 1/2
3rd 2/4 3/6
Total 7/14 8/16
Three stars:
1. Rassey, Rob
2. Thiessen, Brad
3. Barton, Chris
Officials:
Referee:Dave Hansen
Linesman:Jack Milea
Linesman:James Brown
Goal judge:Chris Millea
GOALTENDERS
Northeastern Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
39 Thiessen, Brad...... W 60:00 1 0 6 11 13 30
Merrimack Dec MIN GA EN 1 2 3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
33 Braithwaite, Andrew. L 59:08 2 0 12 12 7 31
TM EMPTY NET........... 00:52 0 0 0 0 0 0
PENALTY SUMMARY
Prd Player Team Min Offense Time
------------------------------------------------------------
1st Tuckerman, Alex NU 2 CW 04:58 PP
1st Loprieno, Joe MER 2 INTERFERENCE 10:06 PP
1st Cucci, Joe MER 2 SLASHING 13:21 PP
1st MacLeod, Wade NU 2 HIGH STICKING 13:48 PP
1st Barton, Chris MER 2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE 16:51
1st Tuckerman, Alex NU 2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE 16:51
1st Bowen, Pat MER 2 HOOKING 19:28 PP
2nd Chisholm, Denis NU 2 SLASHING 07:39 PP
2nd Vitale, Joe NU 2 CONTACT TO THE HEAD 09:13 PP
2nd Cucci, Joe MER 2 HOLDING 11:39 PP
3rd Braithwaite, Andrew MER 2 DELAYING THE GAME 09:00 PP
3rd Cucci, Joe MER 2 UNSPORTSMANLIKE COND 13:38
3rd Tuckerman, Alex NU 2 UNSPORTSMANLIKE COND 13:38
3rd Silva, Steve NU 2 BOARDING 13:53 PP
3rd Loprieno, Joe MER 2 TRIPPING 20:00
Win-Thiessen, Brad (14-4-2). Loss-Braithwaite, Andrew (2-8-0).
Northeastern - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
26 Vitale, Joe 14 9
17 Silva, Steve 7 6
94 McNeely, Tyler 5 4
22 Costa, Greg 5 6
37 Rassey, Rob 4 6
27 Tuckerman, Alex 2 3
3 Ginand, Ryan 1 4
19 MacLeod, Wade 0 1
Totals......... 38 39
Merrimack - Faceoffs
## Player W L
------------------------------
15 Jamieson, John 9 6
24 Ricci, Rob 9 9
8 Madsen, Carter 8 8
27 Todd, Jesse 7 6
14 Cucci, Joe 3 7
21 Ouimet, Francois 2 0
16 Robitaille, J.C. 1 1
18 Kimball, Pat 0 1
Totals......... 39 38
Northeastern - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 10:06 12:06 02:00 0 0
1st 13:21 13:48 00:27 0 0
1st 19:28 01:29 02:01 2 0
2nd 11:39 13:32 01:53 4 0 PPG
3rd 09:00 11:00 02:00 3 0
SUMMARY: 5 opps, 9 shots, 1 goal, time 08:21
Merrimack - Power Play Summary
Prd Start End Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 04:58 06:58 02:00 2 0
1st 15:21 15:48 00:27 0 0
2nd 07:39 11:13 03:34 3 0
3rd 13:53 15:53 02:00 2 0
SUMMARY: 5 opps, 7 shots, 0 goals, time 08:01
