By Jared Shafran, News Staff

Backups always have to be ready because they never know when they’re going to get their big chance.’
So when freshman goaltender Chris Rawlings went down with an undisclosed head injury right before the puck dropped on a home-and-home series with the Merrimack Warriors last weekend, freshman Bryan Mountain had to jump in net at the last second.
Behind Mountain’s efforts, the Huskies split the series, with both teams winning on home ice. Merrimack took the first game in North Andover 3-1 on Friday, but the Huskies came back and held off the Warriors in a 2-1 win Saturday night at Matthews Arena.
‘I prepare for every game the same way and anything can happen,’ Mountain said. ‘Stranger things have happened, so being in this role you know to always be ready and you never know when you’re going to go in. There’s excitement, there’s a little bit of nervousness, but I thought I settled in pretty well.’
The Huskies are now 4-6-1 in Hockey East and 6-7-1 overall.
Merrimack got on the board first Friday night with a goal from forward John Heffernan, but the Huskies wasted no time in answering back with a tally of their own. Freshman defenseman Jake Newton took a pass from junior forward Tyler McNeely and was able to find the back of the net.
‘He’s a great player,’ Huskies head coach Greg Cronin said of Newton. ‘He’s getting better and better. I was worried about him because he was a little bit lost defensively and I always say this to kids, that if they’re confident defensively, their game becomes efficient and they get productive in their approach to offense. And that’s what he’s done.’
Unfortunately for the Huskies, it ended up being their only goal on the night as Warrior goalie Andrew Braithwaite stopped the 26 remaining attempts in his sixth start between the pipes this season.
Merrimack took the lead back later in the first period on a power play goal from forward Justin Bonitatibus, then opened the game up midway through the second when forward Elliott Sheen scored at even strength.
The Huskies had chances to get back into the game during the third period when they had two different five-on-three power play opportunities, but came up empty. On the night, NU went 0-6 on the power play.
The next night, Northeastern was determined to get even and win in their last game at Matthews Arena in 2009.
Led by Mountain, who had 24 saves, the Huskies were able to hold the Warriors to one goal and get themselves two more points in the conference standings. ‘It feels great and it’s something I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid,’ Mountain said. ‘Playing in front of a crowd like that and getting a win feels pretty unbelievable.’
After a scoreless first period, the Huskies scored five minutes into the second. Junior forward Wade MacLeod located freshman forward Garrett Vermeersch in front, and Vermeersch found enough room to puck the puck past goalie Joe Cannata for his fourth goal of the year.
Vermeersch is now leading the team with 10 points on the season.
In the last minute of the second period, McNeely was called for contact to the head elbowing and the Huskies had to try to finish the period out shorthanded. It only took the Warriors 45 seconds to set up and score, tying the game at 1-1 and sending the teams deadlocked into the third period.
The Huskies got the game-winning goal 6:28 into the final period from senior defenseman David Strathman. Freshman forward Justin Daniels fired a pass from the corner across the ice to Strathman, who corralled it at the point. He slowly moved in and ripped a shot that beat Cannata up high for the goal.
For the rest of the game, Mountain took over, stopping every other shot he faced to preserve the Huskies’ lead.
‘I think he did an awesome job,’ Cronin said. ‘Sports are a unique opportunity to find out character in people. Here’s a guy that hadn’t played all year, so he’s looking from the outside in thinking that he’s not going to get his chance. I thought he played well [Friday] night and I thought he was terrific [Saturday] particularly at the end.’
Their last game before the winter break is this Saturday when they will travel to Orono, Maine and finish their season series with Maine. The teams split a pair of games at Matthews Arena Nov. 13 and 14. The game begins at 7 p.m. at Alfond Arena.
The Huskies will participate in the Ledyard National Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H. They’ll take on Dartmouth at 7 p.m. on Jan. 2 and depending on the result, the next day they will take on either UMass Lowell or Holy Cross in either the championship or consolation game.