http://www.nunews.neu.edu/nu-news/Issues/020200/s1.html
Mischler pulls out tie
By Mike Trocchi
News Staff
02/02/00
NORTH ANDOVER — The Huskies suffered yet another post-No. 1 hangover on
Saturday, tying Merrimack, 4-4, and losing freshman Mike Ryan for next week’s
game against Providence.
It was typical Northeastern hockey, at least what the past three years have
shown. Play up to the level of the No. 1 team in the country, (New Hampshire)
then play one of the lower tiered Hockey East teams and fall flat.
“The easiest games for me to coach are against the best teams in the country,”
Northeastern coach Bruce Crowder said. He admitted that it’s the games the
Huskies should win that are the toughest battles.
Merrimack (9-14-3, 4-9-3) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first 10 minutes of
the game. A bang-bang exchange by Anthony Aquino from John Pyliotis eluded a
befuddled Jason Braun.
Seven minutes later, another lightning exchange from Stephen Moon to Chris
Halecki put the sixth-place Warriors on top, 2-0.
The shock was setting in and the Huskies (11-8-5, 7-4-5) were looking lethargic.
But Northeastern got on the board when sophomore defenseman Ryan Zoller parked
in front of Merrimack goaltender Cris Classen and knocked a Jim Fahey pass past
the netminder.
The Huskies came out in the second period and tied it when Billy Newson punched
in Matt Keating’s rebound. A comeback win looked imminent until Aquino burst out
of the penalty box and took a waiting puck past Braun for the 3-2 lead.
Merrimack added another before Keating knocked one home with one second left in
the second period.
In the third, the Huskies went on the power play with exactly two minutes left
in the game, and junior Graig Mischler flipped in a rebound to tie the game at
18:54. It was the fourth power-play goal of the night for the Huskies.
But the tie dropped NU seven spots in the pairwise computer rankings that
determines the 12 team picked for the NCAA tournament. The Huskies now stand at
No. 16, looking at the tourney from about a mile’s distance.
On top of all that, freshman Mike Ryan will sit out Friday’s game at Providence.
After the overtime expired on Saturday, Ryan speared a Merrimack player in the
midsection with his stick. It resulted in a game disqualification, which means a
one-game suspension.
“I was looking out for myself. The kid came after me,” Ryan said. “It was a
stupid mistake on my part.”
And it was a stupid mistake for fans to start having NCAA visions dancing in
their heads as the Huskies are now on the outside looking in. Boston College is
now tied with NU for third place in Hockey East, and NU goes into its toughest
month winless in its last three games.
“I thought we got behind on some strange situations,” Crowder said of Saturday’s
game. “I told the guys they shouldn’t be satisfied with this, but, at the same
time, they still did battle and came out of a road game with a point.”
Crowder said freshman Mike Gilhooly will start Friday in Providence and then the
coaching staff will make a decision on whether Braun or Gilhooly will start in
net Monday at the Beanpot against BC.
Mischler was disappointed after the game and realized the Huskies have to make
more progress.
“We know that we have to cut down on all the mistakes,” he said.
Zoller, a bright spot as a transformed defenseman, is still optimistic.
“We’re headed in the right direction,” he said. “We know what we’re capable of
doing,” he said.
So does the rest of Hockey East. And they know NU still has to face Merrimack
two more times.
