By Jill Saftel, News Staff

The Huskies are heading to their third Beanpot final in five years, as they bemoan the quarter century mark of the last Northeastern win in the historic Boston college hockey tournament.

It’s an opportunity 25 years in the making, but the men’s hockey team is headed back to the Beanpot final for a chance to bring home the hardware for the first time in more than two decades. Fueled by a hat trick from freshman forward Kevin Roy, the Huskies knocked off the Boston University Terriers, 3-2, Monday night in the first round of the classic Boston tournament.

The win snapped a 15-game losing streak to BU in the Beanpot, dating back to 1988, the last time Northeastern went all the way and won the tournament. The college tournament – 61 years old – has become cemented in Boston history. But for an outsider like the Quebec native Roy, his opponent’s storied Beanpot history was no deterrent.

“I know that BU has more wins, but I think every year the team changes,” Roy said. “I think it’s different every year, so you can’t look back at the history and predict what’s going to happen that specific year. I think we proved it wrong today.”

Roy’s first goal came just over two minutes into play, and the Husky leading scorer went for a goal per period, with a performance worthy of the No. 7 spot on Monday night’s ESPN “SportsCenter” Top 10.

With 30 points on the season, Roy broke Brodie Reid’s freshman scoring record and sits among all skaters nationally. Among rookies, he sits No. 1 in points, goals (15), goals per game (0.62) and points per game (1.25).

He’s been atop the rookie scoring charts for most of the season, but Roy turned it up at the right time, getting his first collegiate hat trick on the biggest stage he’s seen as a Husky.

“I love to play those types of games,” Roy said of the heightened atmosphere. “I think when the pressure is higher I get a better performance, so I was just excited to start and to see what it was like. It was a great experience, a great team win.”

While Roy and his linemates, senior captain Vinny Saponari and junior Garrett Vermeersch, were leading the Huskies out front, it took 32 saves and a .941 save percentage for the night from senior goaltender Chris Rawlings to keep the Terrier offense at bay. With six power plays through 60 minutes of play, BU had its fair share of opportunities taking 34 shots to Northeastern’s 26.

With injuries plaguing the Huskies, a defensive core made up of three freshmen and three sophomores was left to help Rawlings out in Northeastern’s zone. Despite general inexperience, the young defensemen pulled together and BU head coach Jack Parker took notice.

“I give Northeastern a lot of credit,” Parker said. “They played well in front of their goaltender. Three freshmen, three sophomores, and they all played hard in front of their goaltender, blocked some shots. I was impressed with their overall team defense.”

Parker’s praise certainly carries some weight. It’s Rawlings who is arguably the most appreciated his team’s uptick in defensive success.

“Obviously we’ve struggled a little bit, because we have young [defensive] core, but this week we really worked on our [defensive] zone … and the guys did an awesome job,” Rawlings said. “They did whatever they could to help the team win, they were blocking shots, they were clearing any second chances. Hats off to them, they played an awesome game.”

For all Roy’s inexperience in the Beanpot, Rawlings matches with some bad memories. Last year brought a 7-1 first-round loss to BC and 2011 brought a heartbreaking 7-6 overtime loss in the finals, again to the Eagles. But he isn’t dwelling on the past.

“Past three years, whatever has happened has happened,” Rawlings said. “They’ve been disappointing on our end, but the way I look at it, it doesn’t matter what I did last year or the year before, it’s what I’m doing now and what our team is doing now.

“Getting a second chance at BC, it’s awesome. For preparation, it’s just like any other game. It might sound boring, but it doesn’t matter if it’s the first game of the season or the Beanpot final.”

The Huskies return to the Garden on Feb. 11 for the highly anticipated Beanpot final against the Eagles, but will first head to Amherst for a Hockey East contest against the University of Massachusetts on Friday.