Though its roster lacks a returning senior from last year, Northeastern will nevertheless be relying on veteran leadership for success this season.
While much has been made of the heralded freshman classes that highlight the rosters of crosstown rivals Boston College and Boston University, the Huskies’ top two scorers — forward Jack Williams (2-4-6) and defenseman Vinny Borgesi (1-5-6) — are both juniors. Coach Jerry Keefe said a lot is expected of Northeastern’s junior class, which is anchored by the aforementioned duo as well as forward Cam Lund and defenseman Jackson Dorrington.
“Our junior class is really important from a leadership standpoint,” Keefe said. “We’re relying on them not only for production on the ice but obviously driving our culture here. All four of those guys do a great job of that.”
Northeastern’s schedule so far has been anything but kind, with its last four games against a pair of teams in the top tier of the USCHO Division I men’s poll — No. 1 Denver and No. 7 Maine. The Huskies (1-3-1) came away with just one point during that brutal stretch (a 2-2 home shootout loss vs. Maine on Oct. 26).
Nevertheless, Keefe likes what he sees in his team so far this season, which opened with a 5-1 home win over Stonehill (Atlantic Hockey) on Oct. 12, which followed a 4-2 exhibition win over ECAC Hockey powerhouse Quinnipiac.
“We’re doing a lot of good things right now,” Keefe said. “We’re trying to just go game to game here, not focus on what happened last week or two weeks ago. We’re just learning from each game, moving on to the next one. But I think our team’s doing a lot of good things.”
Northeastern has struggled to score. The Huskies have been held to two goals or fewer in their last four games. Of course, they’ve gone up against two of the nation’s better goaltenders in Denver’s Matt Davis and Maine’s Albin Boija.
“We’re fighting to score goals right now,” Keefe said. “It’s not a lack of chances, they just have not gone in the net for us. So it’s not like we’re not creating offense. We have to finish better, simple as that. Sometimes, throughout the year, that just happens to your team a little bit and you give credit to the other team’s goaltender.”
Although it isn’t necessarily reflected on the scoreboard, the Huskies have gotten a solid effort from sophomore goalie Cameron Whitehead, who finished with a .914 save percentage over the weekend against Maine, recording back-to-back games with at least 30 saves. His 64 saves ranked first among all league goaltenders for the weekend.
“He gives us a chance every single night, it’s that simple,” Keefe said. “He’s been very good, and we’re going to need him to be very good. Any team that has goals of going far, you need great goaltending, and we feel we definitely have that here.”
Northeastern is off this weekend. The bye comes at an opportune time for the Huskies, who, in addition to getting a chance to recover from some injuries, will use the time to take a breather from a tough schedule that won’t get any easier — Northeastern returns to action Nov. 8, when it opens a home-and-home series at No. 12 Providence.
“It gives us a chance to work on some things this week that you might not have time to do throughout the year when you don’t have time (because) you’re always gearing up for the next opponent,” Keefe said. “This week we get to put a little more focus on our team and some of the things we can work on to finish a little bit better and take advantage of some special teams, which we need to get better at.”
