The eighth seeded Huskies stunned the top-seeded Eagles
 last night 6-5 in the quarterfinals of the HE playoffs.
 This has to be the biggest upset of the college hockey season
 thus far.  NU took its 7-24-2 record into the Snooks Kelley
 Rink to face a Boston College team that was ranked 3rd in
 the Nation and had yet to lose a game at home all season.
 People have been saying all year that this Husky team is
 more talented than its record would indicate.  Well last
 they proved it!  BC had beaten Northeastern 4 times already
 this season but the fifth was the charm, and now the upstart
 Huskies take their show on the road to Boston Garden for next
 weekend's semifinals.
 
 The game started out at a slow pace.  NU tried a new different
 strategy last night, having both defensemen stand up at their
 own blue line, the Huskies were able to slow down the faster
 skating Eagles. Both teams had one or two good scoring oppor-
 tunities early but Tom Cole for NU and Sandy Gallupo for BC
 were true to the task.  NU finally got on the board at the 8:09
 mark of the first when Paul Sacco's shot from the blue line
 glanced off of Dinno Grossi's leg and past Gallupo to make it
 1-0 NU, add an assist to Sebastien Laplante.  BC really didn't
 seem to turn up the heat, it almost seemed like being down 1-0
 to the 8th place team was no big deal.  BC came back to tie the
 game at 1 at the 12:02 mark when David Emma notched his 33 goal
 of the season, assists to Marty McInnis and Bill Guerin.  That
 was it for the scoring in the first.  Northeastern definitely
 had the edge in play in the first period, outshooting the Eagles
 10-8.  It was frustrating for the Huskies to be playing their best
 hockey of the season and still not have the lead after one.  NU
 also went into the locker room knowing that Matt Saunders had picked
 up a STUPID high sticking penalty at the 20:00 mark and they would
 be facing a BC power play to start the second.
 
 After the first period, I was starting to wonder about the BC
 faithful.  College Hockey games tend to have a late arriving crowd
 but at this point there were only about 3,000 fans at a facility
 whose capacity is 7,884.  The final attendance was 3,214.  Knowing
 how the Huskies have played all season, the fact that they didn't
 have to go back onto the ice at the start of the second period and
 face almost 8,000 screaming mainiacs dressed in maroon and gold was
 to their advantage.  The Huskies came out and killed off BC's big
 power play opportunity.  Then at 3:57 Emma became the all-time career
 goals leader in BC history (111), surpassing Joey Mullan, assist on
 the goal to Michael Spalla, BC lead 2-1.  This was the first time in
 the game NU had trailed.  The next goal was critical.  NU has had
 trouble coming from behind all season, trouble holding leads too for
 that matter.  At 8:34 NU's Mike Taylor scored on the power play, tieing
 the game at 2, assists to Will Averill and Laplante.  On the ensuing face-
 off, Rob Kenny took the puck for the Huskies and skated in down the right
 wing, drew two defensemen as he skated behind the BC net and fed Joel
 Bishop in front.  Bishop wasted no time in wristing one past Gallupo.
 Just 21 seconds after NU had tied it they went back up, 3-2.  Northeastern
 then went up by two on a goal by Laplante at the 12:02 mark, assists to
 Taylor and Grossi.  Now I think the Huskies had the Eagles' attention!
 BC was handed a golden opportunity when referee Frank Cole whistled NU's
 Averill for interference at 13:35.  This was a very questionable call as
 Averill and BC's Ted Crowley just skated into each other at the NU blue line.
 Jack Callahan scored for BC on the power play cutting the Husky lead to 1,
 assists to Steve Heinze and Spalla at 14:58.  Then with just over 2 minutes
 left in the period BC knotted the game at 4 when Crowley scored from Joe
 Cleary and Jeff O'Neill.  The teams skated to the locker rooms tied at 4.
 Shots for the period were NU 9 BC 12, for a two period total of NU 19 BC 20.
 
 Coach Len Ceglarski and captain David Emma must have had some "inspiring"
 words for the Eagles between periods because they came out at the start of
 the third and skated like a team that is ranked 3rd in the nation should.
 Ceglarski also decided to make a change in net, pulling Senior Sandy Gallupo
 in favor of Sophomore Scott LaGrand.  The Eagles have alternated these two
 all season and it should have been LaGrand's start, but word around the press
 box was that LaGrand's brother is in Saudi Arabia and he hasn't been totally
 focused on hockey.  Ceglarski could have heard between periods of the cease
 fire and decided to go with LaGrand for the third, but that's just speculation
 on my part.  NU coach Don McKenny also employed some coaching strategy.
 McKenny
 decided to take a page out of Coach Walsh's and Coach Parker's books and play
 the split third period.  This was the first time the Huskies have used this
 strategy at the Kelley Rink.
 
 The third period started with a bang, Emma netted his third of the evening
 at the 0:15 mark regaining the lead for BC 5-4, assist to McInnis.  The Huskies
 didn't roll over and die like they have been known to do this season.  NU stuck
 to their tight checking style of hockey, knowing that their opportunities would
 come.  At the 9:56 mark, just 4 seconds before the teams switched ends, NU's
 Sophomore Sensation Sebastien Laplante scored his second of the night, 25 of
 the
 season, tieing the game at 5, assists to Taylor and Chris Foy.  It was now nail
 bitting time, with just 10:00 to go in the game, and possibly the season for
 NU,
 the game was tied at 5, the upset was there if the Huskies could grab it, and
 they did.  At the 11:16 mark junior defenseman Paul Sacco out of Reading Mass.
 scored  only his fourth goal of the season, beating LaGrand from the top to the
 face-off circle and the Huskies led 6-5 with just under 9 minutes to go in the
 game.  BC began to feel the heat.  NU stuck to its tight checking game play and
 held the Eagles at bay.  Then at the 14:28 mark NU was whistled for Too Many
 Men.  BC would put its high powered offense on the ice for their 6th power play
 of the night.  Tom Cole came up BIG in net for the Huskies, stopping both Emma
 and Heinze point blank.  NU successfully killed off the penalty, then with 55
 seconds to go and the BC goalie out of the net referee Cole decided it was time
 for a little fun.  Cole whistled NU's top defenseman Rob Cowie to box for trip-
 ping.  I don't know where this call came from.  There is sort of an unwritten
 rule that at the end of a game, especially a playoff game, the referee should
 not decide the outcome.  Cowie's tripping wasn't on a breakaway, far from it.
 BC had the puck along the boards and went to pass it back to the point.  As
 the players were hurrying to get back into position Cowie's tripped the BC
 player coming off of the boards.  If this call were made in the first period
 I might have thought it was a bad call, but no big deal.  As it turned out,
 it just made the final minute a litle more exciting.  Cole again made two or
 three unbelievable saves, one I remember in particular was on Emma, point
 blank.
 Emma thought Cole would come off his post and tried to slip it past him.  Cole
 stood strong and the Huskies prevailed!!!
 
 This was just a spectacular game to watch.  Exciting clean checking, hard nose
 hockey.  The Huskies have now beaten Providence College and BC in their last
 two games.  I'm not predicting overnight greatness for this team, but whoever
 they face in the semifinals at Boston Garden better not take them as lightly
 as this Eagles team did.  If they do, NU could very well end up in the HE final
 at Boston Garden on March 3.
 
 
 -kap
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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