Box Score

2010-11 Men's Hockey Digital Media Guide

Northeastern extended its unbeaten streak to three games after the Huskies rallied from a 2-0 deficit at Vermont and forced a 2-2 draw on Friday night in front of a sold-out Gutterson Fieldhouse. Senior captain Tyler McNeely attained a career-high five-game point streak after netting the game-tying goal just 26 seconds into the third period. Rookie defenseman Luke Eibler had an offensive breakout, recording his first collegiate goal and mutli-point game to aid in the tie.

Sophomore Chris Rawlings turned in another outstanding performance, steering away 37 Catamounts' attempts while surrendering two. UVM goaltender Rob Madore made 23 saves in the effort.

Northeastern earned its sixth point in Hockey East play and is now 2-7-4 overall and 2-4-3 in conference action.

Northeastern posed the first threat on the power play three minutes in after Kyle Medvec took a seat for holding at 2:24. The Huskies worked the puck out to rookie Brodie Reid on the point who has able to take an unattested rip, but Madore was able to blindly poke check it out to the corner.

Following a couple scrums in both zones, the Catamounts struck first at 7:01 of the initial period. Vermont's forecheck paid off as Matt White was able to wrangle the puck away from NU in its own zone. Brett Leonard held on to it in the near corner and linked up with Drew MacKenzie who snuck by his defender on the far post and tipped the lay-up past Rawlings for the 1-0 edge.

Near the 8:40 mark, Northeastern was all over UVM's doorstep, but could not convert. Shortly after, rookie defensemen Anthony Bitetto and Eibler were cited at the time for holding and cross-checking, respectively, at 10:19. After Dan Lawson rang one off the right pipe at 11:30, Rawlings made multiple saves to blanket Vermont's 5-on-3 presence.

Right after the Huskies penalty kill came off, the power play unit came out for two-consecutive chances. Connor Brickley's charging call at 12:42 and MacKenzie's hitting from behind infraction at 14:50 bestowed NU with four minutes of 5-on-4 advantage. The Huskies did not convert, but senior Steve Silva rifled off the best chance with a one-timer from the left dot that just missed the wide-open left side of the net.

Anders Franzon took a hooking call at 5:16 of the second stanza but Silva made it a 56-second 4-on-4 situation after a slashing call at 6:20. Once UVM went on the man-advantage, sophomore Steve Quailer reeled off a short-handed chance for Northeastern with a breakaway. With a Catamount in pursuit, Quailer's charge was met by another Madore poke check to snuff the threat.

Sophomore Drew Ellement committed NU's fourth penalty at 9:54 and Vermont cashed in on a rebound tally from Chris McCarthy at 10:28. McCarthy honed in on Rawlings' blocker side from 10 feet out, followed his own rebound and roofed the loose puck on the goal mouth to double up the Huskies, 2-0.

Northeastern got on the board under a minute later on a heads-up play by Eibler at 11:31. The freshman defenseman pinched his man on the wall on the forecheck and induced a Vermont turnover. Eibler took his shot from the blue line, bounced it off a UVM defender and duped Madore on the unassisted wrister to cut Vermont's lead in half, 2-1.

Following a dominating performance in the second frame, the Huskies pushed that momentum into the third period and tied the game, 2-2, 26 seconds after the third-period puck drop. Eibler took possession atop the right circle on a pass from MacLeod and let one go right on target. Madore could not collect the rebound and McNeely was able to clean up the loose garbage for his fifth tally of the year.

Back-to-back penalties put NU on its heels in the waning moments of the third period, but Northeastern's penalty kill stepped up to the challenge and kept the Catamounts off the board in that span. Silva and freshman Rob Dongara both were cited for trips at 13:11 and 16:49, respectively, as Vermont worked the puck out of the corners for the duration. With standing a four-minute stretch of skating a man down, the Huskies forced the contest into an extra five-minute session.

Vermont raised the pulses of the Catamount faithful with two good looks inside under a minute in the overtime period. Quailer returned the favor and nearly connected with freshman Cody Ferriero after wheeling down the right side, but the score remained deadlocked as the final horn sounded.

Northeastern returns to Matthews Arena to host Merrimack on Friday, Dec. 3 in its final home contest of 2010. The Huskies will then play in North Andover, Mass. on MC's home ice the follow night at 7 p.m. Northeastern closes out the first half of the season on a Wednesday-night tilt at Boston University on Dec. 8 at 7 p.m.

For those that can't make it to Matthews Arena, be sure to catch all the action on GoNU.TV or Channel 81 on HuskyCable.

Game Notes
• Luke Eibler scored his first-career goal and registered his first-career multi-point performance with a goal and an assist at Vermont on Friday night. The first-year blue liner has scored six points (1-5-6) through 13 games this season

• Wade MacLeod matched a career-high at Vermont on Friday night, notching a point in his sixth-consecutive outing. The Coquitlam, B.C. native has registered nine points within that stretch (3-6-9). MacLeod assembled a six-point streak on one other occasion, from Jan. 2 through Jan. 19, 2010

• Tyler McNeely leads Northeastern in game-tying goals this season. The senior captain has potted two.

• Justin Daniels returned to the lineup for his first game since Niagara on Nov. 5. It marks J. Daniels third game of the season