Something strange happened on the ice at Matthews Arena on Saturday night. With the century-old foundation on St. Botolph Street rumbling beneath the roar of a sellout crowd of Northeastern University fans anxious to unseat the top-ranked Boston University men’s hockey team, the Terriers finally met their match.
Friday night’s 2-2 draw at Agganis Arena saw the No. 4/5 Huskies take advantage of a lackluster effort from the Terriers, outplaying them through 60 minutes of regulation and a five-minute extra session. But with BU just one point behind Northeastern in the Hockey East standings and first place on the line Saturday night, the Terriers threw everything they had at their conference foe, and came up short of victory.
The 1-1 stalemate was a fitting result for two of the nation’s top teams, wrapped in the midst of a burgeoning rivalry that is sure to last beyond regular season’s end.
‘They’ve got a good team this year. We’ve got a good team. That’s all you need,’ junior Brian Strait said of the rivalry.
It looked as if the Terriers had finally broken through when sophomore Nick Bonino blocked a shot in the third period and took it the other way to set up senior Matt Gilroy for a shorthanded goal.
Northeastern goalie Brad Thiessen turned away one scoring chance after another through two periods, giving BU cause to celebrate along the half-boards upon sneaking one past the Hobey Baker candidate. But the high-fives and congratulations were premature.
True to form, the Huskies ramped up their offensive attack and countered by breaking down the stone wall of freshman netminder Kieran Millan, sending the game to overtime and denying the Terriers first place in the process.
The upper bowl at Matthews Arena, packed wall to wall with black-clad Northeastern faithful, erupted into a frenzy of hugs and cheers when freshman Steve Quailer hammered home a rebound to even the score and earn the split. What looked like it would be a remarkable road victory for the Terriers slipped away, as did their hopes of leapfrogging the Huskies to the top of the standings.
This is how it goes in the world of college hockey rivalries. The rankings mean nothing. Home-ice advantage can only carry a team so far. And when teams play three times in a two-week period, their distaste for each other begins to show on the ice.
‘It’s not quite BC, but it’s been a good rivalry for a while,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘Certainly with both of us having such good years, this year it’s been pretty intense. We think we’ll see them again.’
Skaters could be found in tussles after the whistle on several occasions in the weekend set, bumping chests in extracurricular shouting matches. All told, 14 two-minute minors were handed out for hitting after the whistle, just a small portion of the 52 total penalties taken over the two nights. If it wasn’t clear before the weekend began that there is no love lost between these opponents, it certainly is now.
Northeastern fans ‘-‘- many wearing shirts claiming it ‘Sucks to BU’ ‘-‘- brought a buzz to Matthews Arena that trickled down to the ice, where the players felt the gravity of the situation. After seeing Quailer stuff the puck past Millan to knot the score with less than three minutes to go Saturday night, Gilroy laid face down on the ice beside the right goalpost, collecting his thoughts.
‘We knew they were a good team, and now we have tons of respect for them. I’m sure they have the same respect for us,’ the BU co-captain said. ‘We’re going to have to beat that team down the road, and I can’t wait to play them again.’
Gilroy’s statement is becoming a recurring theme when the discussion turns to BU-Northeastern. With the Hockey East playoffs just three weeks away, and the Terriers and Huskies cruising toward the top two spots, they appear to be on a collision course for another meeting with a conference title on the line.
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