After 77 minutes of tough hockey, the Engineers had a mental lapse that led to a Northeastern goal and gave the Huskies a 3-2 overtime win. The play sent the Engineers to the consolation game of their own tournament and ended their three game winning streak.
The Huskies played the entire game in comeback mode, as the final margin was their only lead of the game.
The Engineers built their first lead when Junior Jim Henkel corralled a loose puck at the blue line, and headed for the goal. After Henkel’s shot was blocked by Husky Goalie Mike Gilhooly, Junior Defenseman Andrew McPherson put the puck between the pipes to give RPI a 1- 0 lead.
Northeastern rallied in the third when Rich Spiller sent the puck into the slot. Graig Mischler, who was covered like a glove by an RPI defenseman, somehow managed to redirect the puck enough to get it by Freshman Goalie Nathan Marsters.
Less than three minutes later, Junior Matt Murley was up to his now heralded heroics once again. The sequence that led to the score boarded on bizarre, as Francois Senez’s bullet from the blue line bounced off Sophomore Carson Butterwick’s skate and went wide of the net. The puck rebounded off the backboards and came back out in front of the net on the other side. At this point Murley backhanded the puck past a seemingly bewildered Gilhooly.
The Huskies, who refused to accept defeat, rallied several minutes later when Mike Ryan took a hard shot from the left boards that proved too hot for Marsters to handle. This knotted the score at 2 and gave the Huskies new life once again.
The Engineers did not relent, but continued to keep the heat up on Gilhooly. Gilhooly’s biggest play came late in the third when RPI had a three on one situation in front of the Huskies’ net. In the course of the play, Gilhooly somehow managed to stonewall a shot by Junior Jim Vickers, preserving the tie.
The game appeared as though it would end in a tie, as neither team could score after 17 minutes of overtime. But then , Northeastern’s Ryan took a hard shot which Marsters deflected into the slot. Scott Selig, collected himself after being checked, and beat Marsters with a quick shot, giving the Huskies the win.
"It was just a situation in your own end of the rink where you just let down. It had nothing to do with ability, nothing to do with skill, it had everything to do with a meltdown mentally," said Head Coach Dan Fridgen. He went on, "They take a shot and we watch their guy skate by two of our guys. We got puck watching and they put in a rebound. First, we shouldn’t be handing a puck to him and second, we should be clearing rebounds."
Fridgen summed up the team’s effort by saying, "It was (frustrating) and a good game. But, I thought we handed it to them."
With the loss, the Engineers dropped to 8-4-1 overall and would look to rebound the following evening against the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame.
