Friday afternoon, game one of the Husky Invitational at Matthews Arena
saw the University of New Hampshire Wildcats take it to host Northeastern
2-6.  It was a game that was very reminiscent of one played earlier this
season, with UNH making the most of their opportunities with their
energetic play.  The Huskies seemed to be tired and in general had an off
game.
 
In the first period NU started out skating well, but soon went off the
boil.  At that point the Wildcat hustle game took the play into the NU
zone.  Annie Camins (Doris Catlin, Liz Neiley) pounced on a defensive
give away to get UNH the lead.  Wendy Tatarouns (Sara Cross) made the
score 0-2 when she finished off a lovely setup at the far post from
Cross.  The second period found UNH extending their lead on an end to end
play: Cross (Brandy Fisher, Tatarouns).  The Huskies were using a long
ball game to some effect, but lacked the scoring touch.  Tatarouns made
the score 0-4 when she was setup in front from a face-off.  In the final
period, NU started to come back when Caroline Heatley (Danyel Howard)
finishing off an end to end play right up the gut.  To me that kind of
play would work well for the Huskies if they used it more often.  The
Wildcats came back with a power play goal when Camins (Fisher, Heather
Reinke) was given a nice pass at the side of the net, and shot high.
Northeastern made it 2-5 when Howard (Missi Werner) tipped in a shot from
the point after a face-off.  UNH closed out the scoring and the game when
Fisher made a strong solo move up the middle.
 
UNH played with a fair amount of energy, but their "in-your-face" style
is something I do not find interesting.  They have a group of players
that are capable of more intelligent offensive sets, but sadly they just
go with reaction play.  The woman of the match for me was defender
co-captain Kelley Roberts.  She plays with such poise.  A true leader and
one of the fun players to watch on the ice.  Dina Solimini had a strong
match in goal.  Camins was the attacking leader on the day showing good
hustle.  Tatarouns showed some lovely skills carrying the puck.  The
other Wildcat that caught my eye was first-year razor Brandy Fisher.  She
has a lot of talent, and the right coach could do tremendous things with
her.
 
Northeastern has lost another player for the season, Angela Scerra, who
will be out with an injury.  Yikes!!!  Still, the Huskies always seem to
find players to step up.  The defense was lead by Bree Cheatham's
defensive presence and thoughtful passing.  Keri-Anne Allan had another
strong match with good puck control and the timely use of the
poke-check.  Emily Sweeney, Julie Otto and Kim Drews all saw varying
amounts of time on the blue line and despite the score played well.  If
anything I think their mistake was playing UNH too tight.  A soft defense
might work better.  On the attack I thought Jessica Lien played extremely
well.  She is on the edge of being something special.  Tapani also had a
fair afternoon making several good rushes.  The Huskies showed some nice
face-off sets and some good skating, but had trouble sustaining the
attack because at the moment they lack the finishers.  A few easy goals
would lift Northeastern to a higher level of play.
 
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 good shooting
 rhun
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