Maryville vs. Northeastern First All-time Meeting

The first ever meeting between Maryville and Northeastern was a game of control and a battle between goaltenders. Northeastern won the opening faceoff only to lose control of the puck in the Maryville zone. Maryville then went on to control and regroup the puck for a good solid 3 minutes in their zone.

Northeastern fans began yelling “Move the puck!” and “Came to watch a game!” as another fan questioned whether this kind of play was in violation of the rule set in motion to keep teams from draining clock time. They were not in violation as they continued to make an effort to move the puck from behind the net even though it came right back.

Midway through the 1^st period, Maryville finally turned the puck over and #96 Matthew Harris took a hooking call. Northeastern played 3 minutes 5-on-4 on the delayed call, before Maryville touched up. Halfway through the power play, Northeastern’s Bryan Brown took a roughing penalty to save a short-handed breakaway.

As the Brown penalty expired, he joined the rush to form a 2 on 1 and he set up a teammate with a textbook one-timer from the slot only to be denied by Maryville goaltender James Kramer with a desperate slide to make a leg save with only 20 seconds left in the first. The 1^st period ended with a 0-0 tie.

The second period brought back and forth play with clean crisp passing but better defensive action by both teams.

Maryville player #2 Shaun O’Rourke attempted a rink-long pass to #12 Ryan McNorton and with a 2^nd effort to maintain position on the puck, McNorton used his quick release to beat Northeastern goaltender John Harris five hole from within the faceoff circle on the left side.

Immediately after the goal, Maryville lost composure as #91 Kyle Lovell took an accidental high stick and #2 Shaun O’Rourke took a hooking penalty 30 seconds later.

Just as Northeastern looked to be in prime position to take control of the game with a 4-on-2 for 1:30, goaltender James Kramer put up a brick wall stopping 6 shots and having teammates block 2 more.

As the O’Rourke penalty expired, he made a beeline toward the net only to miss a pass that would have been a sure breakaway.

At the end of the 2^nd, it was tied 1-1 and this game was becoming a game of missed opportunities with solid goaltending.

The 3^rd period began with a quick breakaway for Maryville as Northeastern goalie was beat but the Maryville player could not lift the puck over the leg pad.  Maryville’s O’Rourke then controlled the puck behind the net as he waited like a hawk before making a move to beat the forechecker and go coast to coast creating a breakaway only to be denied on his backhand. Northeastern regrouped and #81 Jason Yeomelakis skated down the rink to beat the goaltender on his glove side taking the lead 2-1 for the first time in the game.

A couple plays later, Yeomelakis skated through the slot where Maryville player #48 Justin Riley got his stick in the mid-section of Yeomelakis and he dropped his stick before impeding the forward progress. Yeomelakis then skated to the boards to be met by another Maryville defender and he dangled his way around only to get face to face with a stickless Riley who attempted to sacrifice his body to block the shot but was unsuccessful and the puck went in blocker-side to lift Northeastern 3-1.

Northeastern then controlled the puck for the remainder of the game as Riley slashed a Northeastern player with 3 seconds left only to congratulate the same player with a tap to the head after the buzzer.

The high level of skill and sportsmanship of these two teams will lead to exciting elimination playoff action.

Northeastern finished as the #1 seed in Pool B, while Maryville finished #3.  Northeastern will play Western Michigan on Saturday, April 14th at 10am on the Revision Rink and Maryville will play Colorado at Colorado Springs at 1:15pm also on the Revision Rink here at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns Utah.