No. 4 Northeastern Forces Game Three With 4-1 Win Over UMass Hockey

March 14, 2009

BOSTON - The UMass Minutemen dropped a 4-1 decision to No. 4 Northeastern Saturday night in Game Two of the Hockey East Quarterfinals at Matthews Arena. The Northeastern win forces a Game Three tomorrow night at 7 PM for a trip to the Hockey East Championship Tournament; this will be the first time that the Minutemen have been in a third game in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. Matt Irwin scored the lone goal for UMass (16-19-3), while Paul Dainton made 22 saves in goal. Brad Thiessen got the start in goal for Northeastern (24-10-4), making 32 saves.

UMass outshot the Huskies, 33-26, while the Minutemen went 1-for-5 on the power play. Northeastern was 1-for-7 on the man advantage.

Similar to Friday night, both teams battled hard throughout the first period, but neither squad could come away with a goal. Although the Minutemen outshot the Huskies 6-5 during the frame, they could not find any offensive momentum because Northeastern was awarded four power plays. But the UMass penalty-killing unit did a good job of getting their sticks in the passing lanes and blocking several Northeastern shots.

The Huskies also hit two posts during the first period, while UMass' best chance came five minutes into the period when Justin Braun flew into the offensive zone and threw a quick shot on goal. Thiessen saved the initial shot, but Braun hustled to the rebound and fired another shot on goal, but Thiessen managed to get a pad on the puck.

The Minutemen outshot Northeastern 15-12, but it was the Huskies who scored twice during the second period to take a 2-0 lead heading into the locker room. Kyle Kraemer netted his first goal of the season four minutes into the first period when he pounded a loose puck past Dainton. David Strathman controlled the puck at the point, and let a low shot go that missed wide. The puck caromed off the end-wall and back out in front of Dainton, where Kraemer quickly put it in the back of the net. The play was reviewed by referee John Gravallese, but the goal stood.

The Huskies took a two-goal lead with 4:40 left in the period when Steve Quailer notched his tenth goal of the season. Alex Tuckerman held the puck and took a shot that was stopped by Dainton, but the rebound came out into the slot. Quailer was covered by a UMass defenseman, but got enough of the rebound for the puck to trickle across the goal line.

The Minutemen responded with a goal of their own during the third period, but Northeastern answered quickly. Irwin scored his second goal in as many games 5:20 into the period when he ripped a shot from the point that found its way through traffic and past Thiessen for the power play goal. Marcou fed Irwin with a pass from the faceoff dot, and Irwin held the puck before firing.

Northeastern brought it back to a two-goal game with six minutes to play in regulation while on the power play. Louis Liotti controlled the puck at the point, and then let a shot go from the blue line. Dainton saved the shot, but the rebound popped out to Alex Tuckerman in the slot. Tuckerman wristed a shot that ricocheted off the post and in. The Huskies added an empty net goal with less than a minute to play on Greg Costa's eighth goal of the season.

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