2008 Woodie Awards
Third period burst lifts 'Cats over Huskies
Men's Hockey UNH: 6, NU: 3
Chris Camille
Issue date: 11/7/06 Section: Sports
It took two games and a little over a period of another for the University of New Hampshire Wildcats to start playing the hockey that won them back-to-back games to start the season and raise the hopes of UNH hockey fans everywhere.
Thanks, in part, to a new found passion for tenacious defense and a third period scoring outburst, UNH (3-2-0, 1-1-0) beat Hockey East rival Northeastern (2-4-1, 0-3-1) to pick up their first conference and home win of the season 6-3.
Trevor Smith turned in another monster game as he continues to transform into the next scoring star of UNH hockey. After his two goals and one assist performance on Friday, he now has 10 points in five games. After a shaky first period that mirrored the rest of his season to this point, Kevin Regan turned in a much better performance the rest of the way.
It was a very important night for the 'Cats who had dropped two straight at home, probably too early to be a must-win game, but it was certainly very close.
With over a week to think about the mishaps of last weekend, however, UNH came out sluggish and did not get off to the start they had hoped for.
After a scrum in front of the net, Northeastern freshman Chad Costello found himself in front of a wide open net with the puck on his stick, which he aptly put in for a goal.
The Wildcats were quick to come back as UNH forward and leading scorer Smith took a pass from linemate Matt Fornataro and slipped a quick shot by Northeastern goalie Adam Geragosian.
Another defensive breakdown for UNH led to the Huskies' second goal of the game as winger Jimmy Russo found Joe Vitale unmarked on the weak side of the net for the finish. Vitale filled up the stat sheet in the first period and in addition to his goal, he earned two of the period's eight penalties.
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted to at the beginning of the game," UNH Head Coach Dick Umile said. "But we were able to come out after that and play how we should."
Thanks, in part, to a new found passion for tenacious defense and a third period scoring outburst, UNH (3-2-0, 1-1-0) beat Hockey East rival Northeastern (2-4-1, 0-3-1) to pick up their first conference and home win of the season 6-3.
Trevor Smith turned in another monster game as he continues to transform into the next scoring star of UNH hockey. After his two goals and one assist performance on Friday, he now has 10 points in five games. After a shaky first period that mirrored the rest of his season to this point, Kevin Regan turned in a much better performance the rest of the way.
It was a very important night for the 'Cats who had dropped two straight at home, probably too early to be a must-win game, but it was certainly very close.
With over a week to think about the mishaps of last weekend, however, UNH came out sluggish and did not get off to the start they had hoped for.
After a scrum in front of the net, Northeastern freshman Chad Costello found himself in front of a wide open net with the puck on his stick, which he aptly put in for a goal.
The Wildcats were quick to come back as UNH forward and leading scorer Smith took a pass from linemate Matt Fornataro and slipped a quick shot by Northeastern goalie Adam Geragosian.
Another defensive breakdown for UNH led to the Huskies' second goal of the game as winger Jimmy Russo found Joe Vitale unmarked on the weak side of the net for the finish. Vitale filled up the stat sheet in the first period and in addition to his goal, he earned two of the period's eight penalties.
"We didn't get off to the start we wanted to at the beginning of the game," UNH Head Coach Dick Umile said. "But we were able to come out after that and play how we should."
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