Northeastern University winger Mike Morris found himself controlling the puck on separate two-on-one breaks in the third period Monday, and on both rushes the sophomore made the right decision.
Morris assisted on the Huskies’ first score, then netted his own in Northeastern’s 3-1 win over Harvard University in the Beanpot consolation game at the FleetCenter Monday night. Northeastern (8-13-5) avenged last year’s 4-1 consolation loss to the Crimson (9-12-2), who finished the tournament in fourth place for the third time in the last four years.
“I thought it was a real nice character win for our guys,” Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said after his team’s victory. “Both teams had great chances at both ends of the ice.”
Chances were few and far between in the first period for both squads, when the verbal battles between the Harvard pep band and the Northeastern contingent in the stands offered more entertainment than the action on the ice. The teams combined to take 11 shots and failed to do anything to excite the sprinkling of fans that arrived in time for the matinee.
“I didn’t think we played with a lot of rhythm the whole night,” said Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni. “In the second period, they were more tenacious on the puck than we were.”
Northeastern did come out much more aggressive after the first intermission, but Harvard goalie Dov Grumet-Morris kept the game scoreless after two. The junior stopped all 13 Husky shots, denying several chances in front. In the middle of the period, Grumet-Morris covered a Steve Birnstill backhand from straight away, gloved an Eric Ortlip slapper and stopped a Jared Mudryk wrister to keep the Crimson alive.
While the second period may have belonged to Grumet-Morris, Morris and goalie Keni Gibson owned the third.
Less than a minute into the final period, as a Northeastern penalty expired, Morris and linemate Jason Guerriero skated two-on-one into the Harvard zone. Morris passed left to set up a Guerriero one-timer that slipped past Grumet-Morris into the lower left corner of the net.
Harvard would answer six minutes later on a power play, skating with an extra man after Guerriero was charged with hitting after the whistle. Harvard’s Noah Welch took a pass from Brendan Bernakevitch, skated behind the Northeastern net then spun back and pushed the puck in front to Tom Cavanagh. Cavanagh slammed home his 13th goal of the season, tying the game with 13 minutes to play.
Morris would have another chance five minutes later. The sophomore again skated two-on-one, this time with his other linemate, Brian Swiniarski. Instead of passing, Morris hesitated with the puck before firing it high and left past Grumet-Morris to put the Huskies up 2-1.
Twice the sophomore winger ran the two-on-one, and twice his decisions paid off.
“Morris is a very, very good player,” Mazzoleni said. “He’s a finisher. He went upstairs [on the second goal], and that was the ballgame.”
Morris provided the offense – Gibson provided the defense. The junior made 19 of his 31 saves in the third period, robbing Harvard’s Kevin Du on a breakaway, diving to his right to stop Cavanagh and sending back three consecutive Crimson chances in close with three minutes to play.
“Momentum changes and shifts throughout the game, and you have to expect to make a couple big saves,” Gibson said.
“I thought he was outstanding,” Mazzoleni said of Gibson. “You have to give credit to the goaltender, because we did have some very good chances in the third period.”
Northeastern’s Ray Ortiz completed the scoring – an empty netter from the blue line with 12 seconds left – as Husky fans taunted the Harvard pep band with “safety school” chants.
Harvard outshot Northeastern 32-25, but the Crimson were 1-5 on the power play, while the Huskies went 0-2.
Although the 5 p.m. game on the second Monday in February is somewhat of an afterthought, both teams said a third place Beanpot finish is significant.
“Some people say a consolation game is meaningless – we did not approach it that way,” Mazzoleni said. “This was a game we wanted to win.”
“You don’t want to finish last,” Gibson said. “You want to have a good taste in your mouth. Even though it’s not a win for the tournament, it’s not fourth place.”
