Northeastern Athletics

Northeastern Northeastern 2, Merrimack 1

2008-09 Schedule/Results
2008-09 Statistics

Northeastern 2, Merrimack 1
Jan. 10, 2009
Lawler Arena (North Andover, MA)

Team
1st
2nd
3rd
Final
#4 Northeastern (14-4-2, 10-2-1 Hockey East)
1
1
0
2
Merrimack (5-11-3, 2-9-2 Hockey East)
0
0
1
1

Rob Rassey had a goal and an assist, Randy Guzior scored and goaltender Brad Thiessen made 30 saves as Northeastern beat Merrimack, 2-1, to sweep the weekend series on Saturday night at Lawler Arena. The Huskies topped Merrimack by the same score on Friday night at Matthews Arena. Chris Barton scored for Merrimack in the third period.

Northeastern improved to 14-4-2 overall and 10-2-1 in Hockey East while Merrimack dropped to 5-11-3 overall and 2-9-2 in Hockey East. The Huskies are off to their best 20-game start ever.

After the play went back and forth early in the game, the Huskies lit the lamp first with Guzior's four-on-four goal at 14:52 in the first period. Defenseman Mike Hewkin passed the puck ahead to Rob Rassey, who took it into the Merrimack zone for an odd-man rush. Guzior was ahead of Rassey, and Rassey shot it ahead where Guzior tipped it. Merrimack goalie Andrew Braithwaite jumped on the puck but couldn't keep it out of the net and the Huskies took a 1-0 lead.

Guzior had another great chance during four-on-four play later in the period. With NU's Alex Tuckerman and Merrimack's Barton in the box for hitting after the whistle, Denis Chisholm passed the puck ahead to Guzior in the neutral zone and he took it in for a breakaway. This time, Braithwaite was able to make the save. Defenseman David Strathman sped into the zone a minute later and fired a shot on net that Braithwaite saved, with Merrimack's Pat Bowen taking a hooking penalty on the play. Northeastern outshot Merrimack 13-6 in the period.

Guzior appeared to score his second goal of the game when he put in the rebound of a Joe Vitale shot at 4:43 in the second period but the referees ruled he kicked the puck in. Thiessen made a great save on a breakaway by Merrimack's Jesse Todd, when he took away the low post with his pad at 7:39 in the second. Chisholm was called for slashing on the play, and the Huskies were able to kill off the penalty.

The Huskies got on the board again to make it 2-0 with Rassey's fourth goal of the season at the tail end of a power play. Northeastern won a faceoff in the Merrimack zone and Tyler McNeely got the puck along the right boards. He passed it to Louis Liotti on the far point, Liotti shot it on net and Rassey was there to score on the rebound at 13:32.

Merrimack got on the board at 13:28 in the third period when Barton tipped a Rob Ricci shot past Thiessen to make it 2-1. Todd also got an assist on the play. Ten seconds later, NU's Alex Tuckerman and Merrimack's Joe Cucci got matching minors for unsportsmanlike conduct, then NU's Steve Silva was called for boarding at 13:53, setting up 1:45 of four-on-three play in favor of Merrimack. The Warriors had several good scoring attempts, including a stretch where Thiessen made three saves in a row, and Thiessen kept them at bay.

Tuckerman had two great scoring chances that were met with two great Braithwaite saves in the third. The first came on a give-and-go with Steve Quailer and the second on a wide-open pass from Strathman behind the net.

Northeastern outshot Merrimack, 33-31, in the game and went one-for-five on power plays while Merrimack went scoreless on five advantages.

Northeastern hosts Vermont for a two-game set next Friday and Saturday at Matthews Arena. Both games start at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on 890 ESPN Boston and WRBB Radio, and will have live web video on GoNU.TV.

Hockey Game Box Score (Final)
Northeastern University Hockey
#4 Northeastern vs Merrimack (Jan 10, 2009 at North Andover, MA)


Northeastern (14-4-2 (10-2-1 HEA)) vs. Merrimack (5-11-3 (2-9-2 HEA))
Date: Jan 10, 2009  Location: North Andover, MA     Arena: Lawler Arena
Attendance:1228   Start time:7 p.m.    End time:9:07 pm   Total time:2:07



 # Prd Time Team Typ Scored By               Assists             Visitor On Ice   Home On Ice
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 1 1st 14:52 NU   EV Guzior, Randy/1         Rassey, Rob/2       13,37,28,24      8,18,2,4
                                             Hewkin, Mike/3
 2 2nd 13:32 NU   PP Rassey, Rob/4           Liotti, Louis/4     37,5,94,12,6     18,21,3,26
                                             McNeely, Tyler/7
 3 3rd 13:28 MER  EV Barton, Chris/5         Ricci, Rob/5        26,19,4,13,6     23,24,27,3,26
                                             Todd, Jesse/5

TEAM SUMMARY

                        |-Shots by Prd-|
## Northeastern          1  2  3    Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
3  Ginand, Ryan........  2  1  1      4   0
4 *Driscoll, Jim.......  0  0  0      0  -1
5  Liotti, Louis.......  1  2  0      3   0
6 *Strathman, David....  1  1  0      2  -1
7  Nycholat, Dan.......  0  1  0      1   0
10 Quailer, Steve......  0  1  1      2   0
12 McCauley, Dennis....  1  1  0      2   0
13*Guzior, Randy.......  3  0  1      4   0
17 Silva, Steve........  0  1  0      1   0
19*MacLeod, Wade.......  1  0  1      2  -1
22 Costa, Greg.........  0  0  0      0   0
23 Donovan, Chris......  1  0  0      1   0
24 Chisholm, Denis.....  0  1  0      1  +1
26*Vitale, Joe.........  1  2  1      4  -1
27 Tuckerman, Alex.....  1  0  1      2   0
28 Hewkin, Mike........  0  0  0      0  +1
37 Rassey, Rob.........  0  1  1      2  +1
94 McNeely, Tyler......  1  1  0      2   0
TM TEAM................  0  0  0      0   0
30 Binnington, Mike     DNP
   Totals.............. 13 13  7     33  -1


                        |-Shots by Prd-|
## Merrimack             1  2  3    Tot +/-
-------------------------------------------
2  Allan, Fraser.......  0  0  0      0  -1
3 *Loprieno, Joe.......  1  0  1      2  +1
4  Bowen, Pat..........  0  0  0      0  -1
7  Stollery, Karl......  0  1  0      1   0
8  Madsen, Carter......  0  0  1      1  -1
12 Farrell, Grant......  0  0  1      1   0
14 Cucci, Joe..........  0  0  0      0   0
15 Jamieson, John......  0  2  1      3   0
16 Robitaille, J.C.....  1  0  0      1   0
18 Kimball, Pat........  0  1  1      2  -1
19 Astle, Kurtis.......  0  0  0      0   0
20 Flanigan, Ryan......  1  0  1      2   0
21 Ouimet, Francois....  0  0  2      2   0
22 Sadlowski, Brandon..  0  0  0      0   0
23*Barton, Chris.......  0  1  4      5  +1
24*Ricci, Rob..........  0  2  1      3  +1
26*Ross, Adam..........  1  1  0      2  +1
27*Todd, Jesse.........  2  2  1      5  +1
28 Velleca, Jeff.......  0  1  0      1   0
33*Braithwaite, Andrew.  0  0  0      0   0
TM TEAM................  0  0  0      0   0
35 Cannata, Joe         DNP
   Totals..............  6 11 14     31  +1


Goals by Period
Team   1  2  3  Tot
-------------------
NU     1  1  0 -  2
MER    0  0  1 -  1

Shots by Period
Team   1  2  3  Tot
-------------------
NU    13 13  7 - 33
MER    6 11 14 - 31

Power Play G-Att (Shots)
Prd      NU          MER
-----------------------------
1st    0-2 (2)     0-2 (2)
2nd    1-2 (4)     0-2 (3)
3rd    0-1 (3)     0-1 (2)
Total  1-5 (9)     0-5 (7)

Penalties/Minutes by Prd
Prd      NU        MER
-------------------------
1st      3/6       4/8
2nd      2/4       1/2
3rd      2/4       3/6
Total    7/14      8/16

Three stars:
1. Rassey, Rob
2. Thiessen, Brad
3. Barton, Chris

Officials:
Referee:Dave Hansen
Linesman:Jack Milea
Linesman:James Brown
Goal judge:Chris Millea

GOALTENDERS

Northeastern            Dec  MIN  GA EN   1  2  3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
39 Thiessen, Brad......  W  60:00  1  0   6 11 13  30

Merrimack               Dec  MIN  GA EN   1  2  3 Svs
-----------------------------------------------------
33 Braithwaite, Andrew.  L  59:08  2  0  12 12  7  31
TM EMPTY NET...........     00:52  0  0   0  0  0   0


PENALTY SUMMARY

Prd Player               Team Min Offense              Time
------------------------------------------------------------
1st Tuckerman, Alex      NU     2 CW                   04:58 PP
1st Loprieno, Joe        MER    2 INTERFERENCE         10:06 PP
1st Cucci, Joe           MER    2 SLASHING             13:21 PP
1st MacLeod, Wade        NU     2 HIGH STICKING        13:48 PP
1st Barton, Chris        MER    2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE    16:51
1st Tuckerman, Alex      NU     2 HIT AFTER WHISTLE    16:51
1st Bowen, Pat           MER    2 HOOKING              19:28 PP
2nd Chisholm, Denis      NU     2 SLASHING             07:39 PP
2nd Vitale, Joe          NU     2 CONTACT TO THE HEAD  09:13 PP
2nd Cucci, Joe           MER    2 HOLDING              11:39 PP
3rd Braithwaite, Andrew  MER    2 DELAYING THE GAME    09:00 PP
3rd Cucci, Joe           MER    2 UNSPORTSMANLIKE COND 13:38
3rd Tuckerman, Alex      NU     2 UNSPORTSMANLIKE COND 13:38
3rd Silva, Steve         NU     2 BOARDING             13:53 PP
3rd Loprieno, Joe        MER    2 TRIPPING             20:00

Win-Thiessen, Brad (14-4-2).  Loss-Braithwaite, Andrew (2-8-0).


Northeastern - Faceoffs

## Player                W  L
------------------------------
26 Vitale, Joe          14  9
17 Silva, Steve          7  6
94 McNeely, Tyler        5  4
22 Costa, Greg           5  6
37 Rassey, Rob           4  6
27 Tuckerman, Alex       2  3
3  Ginand, Ryan          1  4
19 MacLeod, Wade         0  1
   Totals.........      38 39

Merrimack - Faceoffs

## Player                W  L
------------------------------
15 Jamieson, John        9  6
24 Ricci, Rob            9  9
8  Madsen, Carter        8  8
27 Todd, Jesse           7  6
14 Cucci, Joe            3  7
21 Ouimet, Francois      2  0
16 Robitaille, J.C.      1  1
18 Kimball, Pat          0  1
   Totals.........      39 38


Northeastern - Power Play Summary

Prd Start  End  Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 10:06 12:06  02:00     0     0
1st 13:21 13:48  00:27     0     0
1st 19:28 01:29  02:01     2     0
2nd 11:39 13:32  01:53     4     0 PPG
3rd 09:00 11:00  02:00     3     0
SUMMARY: 5 opps, 9 shots, 1 goal, time 08:21

Merrimack - Power Play Summary

Prd Start  End  Elapse Shots (Opp)
----------------------------------
1st 04:58 06:58  02:00     2     0
1st 15:21 15:48  00:27     0     0
2nd 07:39 11:13  03:34     3     0
3rd 13:53 15:53  02:00     2     0
SUMMARY: 5 opps, 7 shots, 0 goals, time 08:01


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