BOSTON, Mass. - Northeastern posted its first four-point weekend after finishing off Vermont on Saturday night in a 4-1 march at Matthews Arena. Freshman Ludwig Karlsson continues to impress, registered his first-career two-goal outing while juniors Steve Quailer and Alex Tuckerman also found the back of the net to anchor the Huskies' second-straight victory.
Junior Chris Rawlings provided a stable base in net, steering aside 38 shots in his third victory of the season. UVM's Rob Madore stopped 24 shots on the evening.
Vermont outshot Northeastern, 39-28, thanks to a 17-shot first period in which the Huskies took three penalties, including a five-minute major to rookie Joseph Manno. Northeastern was given only one power play on the evening while the Catamounts went 1-for-4 with the extra skater.
Saturday night's triumph marks the Huskies first winning streak of the season and first four-point sweep of the season.
Just like last night's outing, the Huskies wasted no time getting on the board on a bang-bang play from Saponari to Karlsson at 1:33. Junior Garrett Vermeersch won a battle in the far counter and rimmed over to Saponari on the near post. Saponari spotted Karlsson cutting in from the middle and whizzed the puck across the zone right to Karlsson's tape. Karlsson redirected in under Madore's pad for the early 1-0 strike.
Northeastern opened the door for Vermont on back-to-back penalties to rookie Adam Reid and sophomore Cody Ferriero at 10:13 and 13:27, respectively. The Catamounts did not sniff the net in their first opportunity, but UVM exploited a hole in the middle of NU's penalty kill at 15:10 to tie it up. Nick Luukko possessed at top and filtered the puck through the middle of traffic. Matt White positioned his stick perfectly to bend the puck through Rawlings' five-hole to cinch it up, 1-1.
First-year forward Joseph Manno added to Northeastern's march to the penalty box in the first period after getting called for a five-minute major (contact to the head) and game misconduct at 17:41 of the first stanza. The Huskies mimicked their first penalty kill and kept Vermont at bay the entire five-minute window.
After Northeastern snuffed out UVM's long power play, the Huskies offense established their presence in the Catamounts' end. Junior Steve Quailer nearly potted a cross-ice pass from Saponari at 7:45, but Madore adjusted his position to make the stop.
The Huskies squandered a Michael Paliotta cross-checking call at 8:57 of the second, but two big chances for NU shortly after finally broke through in the form of another Karlsson tally.
Junior Drew Ellement connected with Karlsson on a home run pass deep from within Northeastern's territory. Karlsson was alone with Madore but the puck escaped the rookie on his deke attempt. Sophomore Luke Eibler rang one off the pipe at 15:40, but moments later, Vermeersch won another puck out of the corner to Saponari behind the net. Saponari charged to his left and tried to stuff it past Madore on the wraparound, but the puck shot out to a waiting Karlsson 15 feet out. Karlsson quickly gathered the disc and zipped it over Madore's blocker for his second of the night and a 2-1 Huskies' edge.
The Huskies continued to occupy Vermont's ice and Northeastern added a late goal in the second to take a 3-1 advantage into the locker room heading into the third. Quailer executed a perfect forecheck along the far boards at UVM's blue line and dropped the puck off the Ferriero two strides back. Quailer broke out and Ferriero split two Catamounts to connect with Quailer on the near post for the nifty one-timer on the near post at 19:30.
Quailer was cited for a slash at 4:49 at Vermont offered a couple close chances in the crease to creep within a goal, but Northeastern's penalty kill rose to the challenge and kept UVM off the board.
The Catamounts claimed possession for a portion of the middle period, but Northeastern's strong forecheck paid off again after junior Robbie Vrolyk won a battle behind the net and chipped the puck out to junior Justin Daniels in between the circles. J. Daniels tried to pick the right corner, but the disc clanked off at fortuitous angle for Tuckerman who crashed the net and batted the puck out of the air to put it past Madore for the 4-1 lead at 13:54.
Northeastern rode its 4-1 lead to the final horn to collected its first four-point weekend of the season.
Northeastern takes a break from its 12-game Hockey East gauntlet to take to the road for a set of non-conference tilts. The Huskies will spend their Thanksgiving in Ann Arbor, Mich. and will take on No. 7 Michigan at Yost Ice Arena on Friday night, Nov. 25 at 7:30 p.m. The last time the Huskies and Wolverines met (Oct. 28, 2006), Northeastern came away with a 3-2 triumph on Michigan's ice. Northeastern is 2-4-0 overall against the University of Michigan.
Game Notes
- Northeastern earned its first four-point weekend in Hockey East play since defeating Massachusetts and UMass Lowell, respectively, on Jan. 7 and Jan. 8, 2011.
- Freshman Ludwig Karlsson became Northeastern's points leader (6-4-10) after his first-career two goal outing against Vermont. The Stockholm, Sweden native became the third Husky to score two goals this season, joining Justin Daniels (UMass - Oct. 7) and Joseph Manno (Boston College - Oct. 22). Karlsson is riding a team-best and career-high three-game goalscoring streak.
- Junior Alex Tuckerman erased a long goal scoring draught, finding the back of the net for the first time since Jan. 3, 2010. Tuckerman missed all of last season with surgery. Sixty-five games had elapsed since Tuckerman's last goal. The Orleans, Mass. native has scored 14 goals and 23 assists in 81 career games.
- Juniors Vinny Saponari and Garrett Vermeersch each registered a pair of assists in Saturday's victory over Vermont. Saponari has secured two helpers on two occasions this season while Vermeersch attained his first multi-point outing of the season. The last time Vermeersch registered a multi-point outing was at Boston University on March 6th. It marked the seventh of his career.
- Sophomore Cody Ferriero recorded his second-career point streak with a helper on Steve Quailer's third goal of the season. It marked the Essex, Mass. native's first assist of the season.
- Junior Steve Quailer registered two goals and two assists in his last three outings, marking his second career three-game point streak.