In lieu of head coach Kevin Sneddon’s remarks about a lack of effort, the Catamounts responded. Unfortunately it just wasn’t enough.

The Cats tied Northeastern University 2-2, on Jan. 17 capitalizing on power play goals by sophomore Brady Shaw and junior Colin Markison.

Physicality was one thing Sneddon mentioned after their Friday night loss. It was  evident early on that physical play was going to be at the core of this game.

About mid-way through the second period, first-year forward Travis Blanleil hit a Northeastern forward in a controversial play that resulted in a five minute major penalty for charging.

“It was an aggressive hit, but I didn’t even know that type of penalty existed for that [play],” Sneddon said. “That being said, if its in the rulebook, its there. The referees know the rulebook better than I do.”

The effort was there. The physicality was there. The only thing not there was execution, which will be all but necessary going into next weekend when the Catamounts host the no. 2  Boston University Terriers in another Hockey East series.

“I’m looking forward to it,” senior Captain Mike Paliotta said. “It’s not every day that you get to face top talent like [Jack Eichel] and its exciting and a good test for us as a team. That being said I don’t think we’ll prepare any differently to face them, but we got to realize that from here on out it’s more or less a playoff game every weekend.”

Vermont will host the Terriers at Gutterson Fieldhouse at 7:05 p.m. Jan 23 and 24. Both games will be televised on CatamounTV.