FITCHBURG -- The New England Huskies know how to finish.
The Empire League squad punched home four goals in a dominating second period to pull away from the Philadelphia Revolution, 5-1, Friday night at the Wallace Civic Center at Fitchburg State University in the 10th annual New England Jr. Huskies Invitational Showcase Tournament.
"We played well in the first, too," Huskies coach Tim Pelletier said. "I told them that when we get opportunities to play down low, I thought we were a better 3-on-3, man-on-man, which they were playing. We took over the game in the first 10 minutes or so."
With the victory, the Huskies improved to 16-5-1 -- a complete turnaround from a year ago when their inexperience definitely showed in the standings.
"We were a very young team last year," Pelletier said. "We lost 12 one- or two-goal games. We've turned those into wins this year with a year of experience. That's why we're in the position that we are."
After a 1-1 first period, the Huskies came out smoking on offense and defense. And 8:26 into the second 25-minute period, the Huskies secured a lead they would never relinquish. David Sweet took a shot from the right wing, and Revolution goalie Chris Brown made the initial save. But the rebound popped out and Mason Malkowich was on the far post to flip the puck into the net for a 2-1 lead.
The Huskies continued to pour it on, and their physical play -- constantly trying to gain position to score in front of
Brown -- paid off. Ole Setsaas fed Justin Gaudino in the slot, but Gaudino's shot was stopped. But once again, Brown surrendered a rebound and Gaudino shielded off a defender and followed up his own shot to net a rebound tally.
"The kid (Brown) gave up a couple rebounds and we buried a couple of pucks," Pelletier said.
Malkowich set up Tim Wurman for a power-play goal 23:10 in for a 4-1 lead. Sweet's goal, assisted by Sutton Wilson and Scott Morrison, put the finishing touches on the four-goal victory.
In the second period, Huskies outstanding goalie Mark Hochman kept Philadelphia (12-11-1) frustrated by making a nifty pad save off a shot from Ben Pulley and a sprawling stick deflection moments later.
The Huskies' defensive unit of Trevor Loiseau, Shane Dowd, Dillon Frinton, Brendan Flanagan and Taylor Fletcher deserve much of the credit, too, as the Revolution were only able to must 16 shots -- including only four in the second period.
"I told them that we've got to win every game here on out," Pelletier said. "Our goal is to win the Eastern Conference to get the national bid outright. There's a lot of work to do that, but we're going to continue to do it because that's our goal."