Spring Break
Men's hockey splits pair of OT games
Kevin Vellturo
Issue date: 2/23/09 Section: Sports
The scenario seemed familiar. In fact, it had just played out the previous night.
The men's hockey team had a 3-2 lead late in the third period Friday night only to give up the tying goal to Canisius and then go on to lose only 15 seconds into overtime.
Saturday it was the same situation - only this time the ending was different. After allowing the Golden Griffins to tie, senior captain Sean Erickson skated coast-to-coast to give the Huskies their first win at home since Jan. 14.
Although they came out with the win, coach Bruce Marshall said they had no other choice.
"I told the guys after last night that they needed this one or the next week would not be very fun," Marshall said.
Despite the win, Marshall was still critical of his team's discipline - something that has hurt them all season.
"I thought we only played average last night and we almost won," Marshall said. "Tonight we almost gave the game away with a penalty. It's nice to get the win but it's something you have to look at."
Early on, it appeared as though the penalty bug had disappeared. In the first period, the Huskies took only two penalties, and at the end of the period the score was tied by a goal from Chris Ochoa, his team-leading 16th of the season. The goal gives Ochoa six in his last five games.
The score remained tied until late in the second when Canisius pushed it to 2-1 with a goal by their leading scorer Jason Weeks.
Back-to-back goals by Andrew Olson and Daniel Naruto in less than one minute in the third period gave the Huskies the late lead. It appeared as though the Huskies' eighth win was within reach - until Weeks put in his second goal of the game, and his third of the weekend, with only 1:05 remaining to push the game into overtime.
A repeat of the previous night was extinguished soon after by Erickson's goal. The win is the Huskies' second in three games. The inspiration for Erickson's unassisted coast-to-coast goal came from an article Marshall had showed them the previous day, the defensemen said.
"Coach showed us an article that said 'good players shoot when you come across the blue line,'" Erickson said. "I had that in the back of my mind the whole game and it worked out for me."
Though there is admittedly some momentum that carries over from the win into next weekend and the playoffs, Marshall said it would not come easy.
"All the teams we're playing are ahead of us in the standings," Marshall said. "And in the playoffs it's do-or-die."
Erickson echoed his coach's feelings that the momentum is nice, but they need to do something with it.
"It was a good win against a good opponent," Erickson said. "We've got to work hard at it and we need to get the wins next weekend though."
From here, the Huskies have a home-and-home series with Bentley next weekend to close out the season. Regardless of the outcome, the Huskies will play in a first round game in the Atlantic Hockey tournament with a chance to make a run.
The men's hockey team had a 3-2 lead late in the third period Friday night only to give up the tying goal to Canisius and then go on to lose only 15 seconds into overtime.
Saturday it was the same situation - only this time the ending was different. After allowing the Golden Griffins to tie, senior captain Sean Erickson skated coast-to-coast to give the Huskies their first win at home since Jan. 14.
Although they came out with the win, coach Bruce Marshall said they had no other choice.
"I told the guys after last night that they needed this one or the next week would not be very fun," Marshall said.
Despite the win, Marshall was still critical of his team's discipline - something that has hurt them all season.
"I thought we only played average last night and we almost won," Marshall said. "Tonight we almost gave the game away with a penalty. It's nice to get the win but it's something you have to look at."
Early on, it appeared as though the penalty bug had disappeared. In the first period, the Huskies took only two penalties, and at the end of the period the score was tied by a goal from Chris Ochoa, his team-leading 16th of the season. The goal gives Ochoa six in his last five games.
The score remained tied until late in the second when Canisius pushed it to 2-1 with a goal by their leading scorer Jason Weeks.
Back-to-back goals by Andrew Olson and Daniel Naruto in less than one minute in the third period gave the Huskies the late lead. It appeared as though the Huskies' eighth win was within reach - until Weeks put in his second goal of the game, and his third of the weekend, with only 1:05 remaining to push the game into overtime.
A repeat of the previous night was extinguished soon after by Erickson's goal. The win is the Huskies' second in three games. The inspiration for Erickson's unassisted coast-to-coast goal came from an article Marshall had showed them the previous day, the defensemen said.
"Coach showed us an article that said 'good players shoot when you come across the blue line,'" Erickson said. "I had that in the back of my mind the whole game and it worked out for me."
Though there is admittedly some momentum that carries over from the win into next weekend and the playoffs, Marshall said it would not come easy.
"All the teams we're playing are ahead of us in the standings," Marshall said. "And in the playoffs it's do-or-die."
Erickson echoed his coach's feelings that the momentum is nice, but they need to do something with it.
"It was a good win against a good opponent," Erickson said. "We've got to work hard at it and we need to get the wins next weekend though."
From here, the Huskies have a home-and-home series with Bentley next weekend to close out the season. Regardless of the outcome, the Huskies will play in a first round game in the Atlantic Hockey tournament with a chance to make a run.
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