Score 1 2 3 Final
Northeastern 0 1 3 4
St. Lawrence 1 0 2 3

Friday the 13th.  Fill moon in October.  Home opener.  If these three things do not seem to inspire confidence then you haven't been to Matthews Arena.  The Huskies opened the 2000-2001 season against the number six team in the nation to a crowd of 3,811 fans, many of whom were decked out in the new Northeastern T-shirts.

The Saints were penalized early in the game.  Mike Muir was hit with a 5-minute major and a 10-minute game misconduct for hitting from behind at 00:28 of the first period.  The Huskies did not score on the 5-minute power play.  The Huskies found the power-play even harder at 9:34 of the first when St. Lawrence forward Jack O'Brien scored a short handed goal from Mike Gilhooly's left on a  break-away.

In the second period the Huskies tied the game at 13:54 when freshman Scott Selig scored his first Collegiat goal from Graig Mischler and Mike Ryan.  A defensive struggle ensued in the oddest way.  Northeastern tallied 31 shots on net in the first two periods while St. Lawrence had only six.  Most felt that the next goal would be the eventual game winner.

However, the third period had five more goals added to the scoreboard.  First, SLU's Allen Fyfe tucked one in behind Gilhooly from the goalie's right side (assists to Erik Anderson and Mike Gellard) only 44 seconds into the period.  Then Northeastern tied the score again when Mike Ryan scored his first of the season at 1:53 of the third from Mischler and Mike Josefowicz.  At 11:48 of the third, with NU defenseman John Peterman in the penalty box for a stupid double-minor, Jim Lorentz put SLU ahead again from Ray DiLauro.  Coach Crowder benched Peterman for the remainder of the game.

This was the pivotal moment of the game.  The Huskies could have folded the tent and disappointed the crowd or reach down for that something extra and surge back.  Neither happened.  Instead luck intervened in one of the most bizarre goals anyone will see all season long.  At 12:10 of the third period, with both sides changing lines, Mike Ryan received the puck from Rich Spiller and took a routine clearing shot into the St. Lawrence end at the goal tender.  Goalie Jeremy Symington came out of the net to cut down the angle, but didn't react to Ryan's lazy shot.  Too bad that he didn't, because the puck went over his shoulder and directly into the Saint's net; in fact Symington was unaware that a goal had been scored until the crowd reacted.  In fact the crowd's reaction was somewhat delayed as no one could believe what they were seeing.  Lo and behold the Huskies tied the game.  At 16:37 Mike Ryan capped off the hat trick with a cross bar bound shot that just made it inside the goal crease (assists to Brian Sullivan and Selig). 

This was an ENORMOUS win.  Saint Lawrence was an NCAA tournament team last season and they are currently ranked number six in the nation.  The Saints made only 13 shots in the game, but their ability to score the shorthanded goal and their ability to kill off a five-minute major penalty showed just how resilient they are.  Just ask any BU fan who saw SLU beat the Terriers in four overtimes in last season's playoffs.

The Huskies take to the road for two games at Notre Dame, currently ranked in the top 20.