With Cameron Whitehead signing with the Vegas Golden Knights and third-string goaltender Harrison Chesney hitting the transfer portal, you knew Northeastern would need to bring in two goalies for next season. We now know who one of those goalies will be, as it was announced Thursday that ’04 goaltender Matthew DellaRusso committed to Northeastern.
DellaRusso is a 6-foot-3 goalie from Connecticut. He catches with his left hand, the traditional way. He currently plays for the Maine Nordiques in his first season in the North American Hockey League. In 19 games he has a .919 save percentage and 2.24 goals-against-average, with two shutouts. He played 6 games earlier in the year for the El Paso Rhinos as well. He played last year in the BCHL for West Kelowna, and in 11 games had a .875 SV% and 3.55 GAA. He is an alumnus of St. George’s School, a prep school in Rhode Island where he had two very successful years before departing for junior hockey.
DellaRusso is expected to be Northeastern’s #3 goalie in the same role Chesney had during his time on Huntington Avenue. Wearing #70 in juniors is interesting (to me anyway) because Northeastern does not allow numbers that high anymore, so I am interested to see what number he picks at NU. The final spot in the goalie room is still to be determined. Northeastern has Louka Cloutier committed and in the USHL, but they also could look to the transfer portal to bring in someone.
Congratulations to Matt on his commitment to Northeastern!
As always, go Huskies!