By: Shay Costa, Howlings
PROVIDENCE, RI—Alex Campbell had a hat trick for the Northeastern Huskies (16-15-3, 9-14-1), but 2,165 loud Friars fans saw #11/10 Providence (18-12-4, 11-9-4) take the 4-3 shootout win Saturday afternoon at the Schneider Arena in Providence, Rhode Island in the club’s regular season finale.
After both teams came up empty despite solid scoring chances during the 3-on-3 overtime, the game would go to the shootout. PC entered the shootout with tremendous confidence in their goaltender, Philip Svedebäck. “He’s lights-out in shootouts, he really is,” reports PC Head Coach Nate Leaman. “He’s very confident in those and it gives us confidence.”
That confidence paid dividends with Bennett Schimek after the Friars’ second and Huskies’ third shooters both tallied. Schimek took a slow, controlled approach toward Huskies’ netminder Cameron Whitehead before ripping a high glove shot that gave the home team a much-needed big win.
“We showed a lot of heart and determination,” Leaman said during his post-game comments. “I was really proud of how we played.”
Providence took an early third-period lead after the two teams battled to a 2-2 tie through two periods of play. The Friars caught Northeastern on their heels in transition, allowing for a rush opportunity. Tanner Adams connected with Nick Poisson, who beat Whitehead glove-side, as Providence took a 3-2 lead.
But Northeastern would not quit and tied the game for the third time at 7:43 after Friar Brady Berard was sent to the box on a holding call. It was the Huskies’ only power play chance of the match, and they took full advantage of it. Providence struggled to clear the puck out of their zone before Campbell took it behind the Friars’ defense and skyed it into the top of Svedebäck’s net to finish his hat trick. Regulation play ended with the score tied, 3-3.
The game’s scoring didn’t begin until the second period when Providence defenseman Andrew Centrella’s shot found its way through traffic, deflected off Poisson’s stick, and took a high-arc trajectory. Whitehead was screened and lost sight of the puck, not seeing it again until it had sailed over his shoulder into the net. Providence led 1-0 at 3:20.
The Friar lead lasted less than a minute, as Northeastern’s Brett Edwards potted a second-attempt shot past Svedebäck. Unfortunately, Edwards’ linemate bumped the Providence netminder on the initial save, and the goal was called back after being challenged.
The Huskies kept on hunting for an opportunity to tie it. Campbell, the team’s leading scorer, created one. Campbell got Friars’ Craig Needham to tie up his own feet, creating enough space to stuff the puck into Svedebäck’s goal and tie at 8:24.
Providence reclaimed their lead when Bennet fed d-man Luke Krys, whose shot split traffic in front of Whitehead’s net, giving the Friars the 2-1 lead at 16:59.
Campbell found a juicy rebound for another golden scoring opportunity off a juicy rebound. But Svedebäck’s save against a wrap-around bid from Dylan Hyrckowian bounced right to Campbell, who potted it before Svedebäck could reset. Campbell’s second goal came with just 43 seconds left in the period, tying the game 2-2 through two periods of play.
This game followed a long and physical game between Providence College and Boston University on Thursday night. “We were tired tonight. Thursday’s game took a lot out of us,” said Leaman, emphasizing the importance of bench depth on the win against Northeastern. “Tonight, even in overtime, I was giving a lot of shifts to our freshman and our younger guys. The emergence of the [Graham Gamache, Adams, Poisson line] has been a big plus for us. They’ve been generating a lot of offense.” Poisson scored two of tonight’s goals, and Adams tallied two assists.
The win over Northeastern also edged Providence College over UMass in the Hockey East rankings, as Massachusetts lost its final game against Maine. They were previously tied for fourth, with the Umass Minutemen holding the tiebreaker. Saturday’s results secured home ice in the first game of the Hockey East playoffs, which start this following week when the Friars host the Minutemen on Saturday, March 16th.
