All-Time Husky Heroes
Great moments in Northeastern sports. By Jack
Grinold
Kos at the Bat
The College World Series is the Holy Grail of college baseball. In 1964,
the Huskies faced Maine at Fenway Park in a play-off game for the right
to go. We lost. In 1966, we found ourselves at Fenway again, but with three
other contenders. Our record of 16-6 earned us only a fourth seed. We would
face number one, Colby College, which had earlier thrashed N.U. 15-3. The
other pairing was UMass and Boston College. The talk of the tournament
was Colby pitcher Ed "No Hit" Phillips. The Red Sox had just
signed him, and no wonder-he was 5-0 with an 0.56 ERA, the lowest in college
ball. Facing Phillips would be our sophomore Ed McCarty, with a 6-2 record.
We scored one in the first inning and two in the fifth for a 3-0 lead.
All three RBIs belonged to first baseman Fred Kos. But Colby capitalized
on four hits, a walk, and an error in the fifth to jump ahead 4-3. In the
seventh, McCarty walked and up came Kos. The big right-hander got hold
of a Phillips fastball and powered it into the center field bleachers.
It was Huskies 5 to 4. The next day we smoked BC, 10-2, and received our
tickets to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series.
Tasting the Beanpot
Not Northeastern, not in the Beanpot! By 1980 we had tried 27 times
to win the precious 'Pot. Record: 0 for 27. Some powerful alumni called
it the annual winter embarrassment. They wanted us out. The 28th attempt
did not look promising. We carried a 3-12 record into round one versus
BU. A 6-5 overtime upset sent us into the title game for only the third
time in Beanpot history. Facing us, however, was the East's premier power,
number-one-ranked Boston College, with an intimidating 19-4-1 record. It
was David versus Goliath. The Eagles charged out to a 3-1 lead in the first
period. We clawed back to make it 3-3 at the end of two. They went up 4-3,
but Paul McDougall tied it with three minutes remaining. Overtime. The
crowd of 14,456 was in a frenzy and it appeared that 14,455 were for N.U.
At 2:47 of OT, it happened. Dale Ferdinandi stole the puck from a BC defenseman
and started the rush. He was tripped and slid the puck to Larry Parks,
who overskated it. A trailing Wayne Turner picked up the puck and fired
it past the BC goalie. The explosion of noise was deafening-the loudest
single shout in Boston Garden history. The Husky hockey hell was over.
We were finally Beanpot champs.
Moss's Miracle
The ultimate goal in college basketball is to reach the NCAA tournament.
For those not named Duke, UCLA, or Kentucky, it was only a dream for decades.
Then came the '80s and rule changes allowing conference champions to advance
to the NCAAs. March of 1981 found us in our first conference championship
game. We would face Holy Cross at Cabot Gym for the ECAC North title and
a ticket to the "Big Dance." Our season record was 22-5, while
the Cross was 19-8. However, the historically strong Cross had played a
tougher schedule. The NCAAs were familiar territory for them-they had even
won it in 1947. We suffered stage fright as the Cross sprinted to a 16-10
lead. But a Perry Moss thirty-footer energized us and we vaulted to a 41-35
lead at the half. The second half seesawed and with only seconds remaining
the Cross was up 74-73, with possession of the ball. We fouled with four
ticks left. The Purple's Ed Thurman made the first foul shot. Score: 75-73.
Remember, there were no three-point baskets in 1981. Everyone thought it
was over, but Thurman missed the second and our Chip Rucker got the rebound.
Two seconds left. Pass to Moss. One second left. Moss lets go shy of half-court,
fifty feet away. Perfect, no net, nothing but pure pandemonium. The score
is tied, but the overtime is automatic, and the Huskies win 81-74. The
"Miracle by Moss" sends us to our first NCAA tournament.
Champions for Charlie
Wednesday, June 1, 1988, was the worst day in Northeastern's athletic
history. Our beloved boatman, Charlie Smith, was killed in a van accident
en route to the eighty-sixth IRA Regatta in Syracuse, New York. The crew
had rowed to a 4-1 regular-season record in a shell that was still unnamed.
They immediately gathered and christened it "Charlie." The IRA
had been frustrating to Northeastern. In twenty-three tries the best finish
had been second place, in 1980. The Huskies lined up for their trial heat
with "Charlie" proudly embossed on the bow of the sleek white
Vespoli shell. It was unknown, however, how the tragedy would affect our
oarsmen. After a sluggish start, coxswain Tim Lenhard gave the impassioned
command, "Let's win this one for Charlie!" They responded with
an IRA record time of 5:45.6 for the 2,000-meter Lake Onondaga course.
The win advanced us straight to Saturday's six-boat final. The favorites
were Princeton, Wisconsin, and Cornell, which had broken the Huskies' record
on Friday's repechage. This time we got off to a fast start and held a
good lead at 500 meters, but we were barely ahead at the 1,000 mark. With
250 left, Brown was nearly even. Again, Lenhard implored, "Do it for
Charlie!" They did-coming through with a one-second victory over Brown,
with Wisconsin only another half-second back. It was our first-ever IRA
championship.
Ending the Ice Age
Northeastern prides itself on being not only one of the first colleges
to sponsor women's ice hockey but also one of the first to excel in it.
Midway into the '90s, however, we seemed to have lost the zip on our slapshot.
After closing the '80s with two ECAC titles-the unofficial national championship-by
1997 we had won no more. Hosting the 1997 ECAC Final Four tournament was
good. Being seeded fourth, with a 16-6 league record, was bad. Worse, in
the semifinals we were facing arguably the finest women's collegiate hockey
team ever. Top-seeded Brown was a perfect 22-0 in league play and already
had beaten us 3-1 and 3-0. One of every six of their skaters would become
an Olympian. The crowd was large, loud, and partisan. Brown scored first.
We countered with goals by Emily Pemrick and Courtney King. But twenty-eight
minutes still remained. Brown attacked in waves, but the N.U. defense,
keyed by Jamie Totten and goalie Shannon Meyers, stayed the flood. As the
final seconds ticked off, the noise level grew, and when the buzzer sounded
with the Husky 2-1 win, the ice crystallized into a giant celebration.
The next day we beat New Hampshire 3-2 for the title. Northeastern was
once again the nation's best.
High-Ranking Huskies
The 1997 football season counted as our twentieth of I-AA play, but
the Huskies had merely participated in the first nineteen years, with a
twenty-seven percent winning percentage against I-AA opponents. We were
barely north of deplorable. In 1997, though, our record was 7-2 with one
game to go in the season. We had won five straight and for the first time
in history were ranked in the nation's Top 25. The final regular-season
game was against Maine. The Black Bears were 5-5, battling for a winning
season. They boasted the second-best quarterback in New England, Mickey
Fein. We had the best, Jim Murphy. We struck first. Linebacker Steve Kives
rumbled 23 yards with a fumble. Then Murphy hit frosh phenom Dave Klemic
for another score. Maine scratched back with two TDs to close the first
half at 14 all. After a scoreless third quarter, we hit a field goal with
three minutes to play in the game. Maine countered at 66 seconds left for
a 17-17 tie and it looked like OT. But we advanced the ball in five plays
to the Maine 41. Six seconds left: Murphy scrambled, scrambled, and scrambled;
Klemic played cat and mouse with the Maine cornerback. The corner committed
to Murphy, who pitched to Klemic at the 20. Klemic dashed for the goal
with seemingly the whole state of Maine in pursuit. Touchdown-23-17, Huskies.
Mayhem. Eight wins for us and a Top 25 ranking. And finally, respect.
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