(13Feb99)  Saturday afternoon at Matthews Arena, the Northeastern Huskies
squeaked by the Providence College Friars 1-0.  It was the battle for the
fourth and final ECAC DI league home ice playoff slot, and for now the Huskies
have the advantage.  The contest promised tons, but was kind of like a can of
Spite left open too long: it just lost its fizzle.
 
The game began slowly.  Both squads appeared to have a lot of respect for each
other.  NU was gliding and not moving their feet.  PC was producing some nice
breakout plays and created a lovely style of turn and flow hockey.  However,
it was Northeastern that earned the vital score during a power play.  Hilary
Witt (Jaime Totten, Jennie Setaro) banged the puck into the open net after
Setaro's elegant pass from the point was redirected to Witt by Totten.  The
play was executed to perfection and gave the Friars no chance.
 
In the second, there was obviously no scoring.  Providence came out cooking.
They play exceptionally well as a team, but one thing or another always kept
PC from making the deadly move.  The Northeastern passing was dreadful.  The
Husky defenders on the other hand played superb hockey at both ends of the
ice.
 
Our can of soda continued to go flat in the final interval.  PC put together
some excellent pressure, often led by super forward Jessica Tabb.  Despite all
her lovely bursts, the movement off the puck wasn't that hot for the Friars.
NU started to fade into a team defense game as they closed the match out.
What had begun with such wonderful potential ended up looking like a practice.
 
Providence is playing a very tight team oriented style.  The flow they have is
great.  Today, something was missing.  The attacking patterns they generated
did not produce lethal opportunities.  On defense, Alain Frankiewicz used her
vision to produce many telling plays.  She is a strong player and breaks up
plays well and dishes off some fine feeds.  Fresher Kim Mathias stepped up and
made some huge plays at the blue line.  She has the ability to get the puck
and go with it.  Up front, fellow first-year Beth Wolff came up with some nice
movement.  Her wheels can let her burn up the ice.  Corinne Rosen did some
fantastic penalty killing.  At times, she and a few other PC players got
involved with the stupid side of the game, which really doesn't fit with the
skillful edge they have.  Rosen was another Friar who had excellent pace.  The
Providence woman of the match was Tabb.  The sophomore sensation is easily the
most dynamic striker I've seen this season.  Tabb has a tremendous
acceleration that allows her to blow by people.  She is a treat to watch.
Overall, with a slightly different attacking shape, PC could surprise a few
teams.
 
Northeastern must be happy with this important victory.  The team speed wasn't
there today.  The puck movement continues poor.  There were several times
today when the movement off the puck produced the killer opening, but the
Huskies couldn't get it there.  The strength of NU is its defense.  As a
group, they are marvelous.  Jessica Ferwerda worked through some tough spots
and produced some fine coverage.  Erine Metcalf continued her intelligent
play.  She seems to stay one step ahead.  Setaro used her speed to create
turnovers and disrupt the Friars.  Totten played with power and vision.  At
times her brute strength overcame the odds and produced the gorgeous chance.
The Northeastern woman of the match was goaltender Erika Silva.  The super
sophy came up big early on in each of the periods to thwart PC.  Silva stoned
the shooters all afternoon and was the winning margin.
 
 _____________
/
 good shooting
 hungerf
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