By Chris Judd, News Staff

With 13 freshmen seeing ice time, the Huskies earned their first win of the season in an exhibition against Dalhousie University 5-0 on Saturday.

“We’re going to have five or six freshmen probably up front spread out amongst the four lines,” head coach Jim Madigan said. “Matt Benning is someone we’re counting on defensively. You’re going to see five to six [freshmen] each night, and that’s OK because there are a lot of freshmen on a lot of teams. Freshmen are expected to make a contribution. We think our freshmen are good players and we think our upper classmen are good players who will lead, and they have done that.”

The freshmen made an immediate impact as forward John Stevens scored seven minutes into the game after sophomore forward Kevin Roy charged in and shot a puck between a Dalhousie defender’s legs at the net. Stevens knocked the rebound in to give the Huskies an early 1-0 lead.

Freshman Mike Szmatula scored five minutes later on the power play, when he received a pass from Stevens on the right side of the crease and beat the goalie in the five hole.

Roy scored the second power play goal for the Huskies three minutes into the second period off an assist from Szmatula by beating the goalie on the right side.

Roy, who lead the Huskies in points and was the Beanpot MVP last year, says he’s not phased by people’s expectations for him this year.

“I like having pressure, I think it makes me better,” Roy said. “I like when someone’s scouting on me. I think with the players coming in and the players stepping up, my responsibility isn’t as big as last year. I just want to help the team win and get some wins this year.”

Three minutes later, Stevens scored a shorthanded goal for the Huskies off a pass from sophomore Colton Saucerman. He beat the goalie through the five hole.

“We generated a lot of chances tonight,” Stevens said. “Besides that, we were good in the defensive zone, guys were always in lanes, we were blocking shots, we close on guys, didn’t give them much time. [The] special teams, both PK [penalty kill] and power play were good. Obviously there’s a lot we can get better at but I thought we were good in a lot of aspects tonight.”

The Huskies ended the game two-for-seven on the power play with 12 total shots. They allowed six shots on Dalhousie’s five power play opportunities.

Freshman Dalen Hedges scored the final goal unassisted after he intercepted a Dalhousie pass at the blue line. He moved up to the slot and shot the puck just inside the right goal post.

The Northeastern defense also had a strong game as they limited the Tigers to 20 shots on goal. The Huskies kept Dalhousie away from the slot and blocked 11 shots defensively. The only breakdown came 12 minutes in the first period as the Huskies were finishing a power play. Saucerman tried to move the puck deeper into the Dalhousie zone, but turned it over. Dalhousie had a breakaway, but junior goalie Clay Witt laid out and made a save on the left side.

Madigan did not declare a starter for the game, but Witt played the first period and stopped nine shots. Senior Bryan Mountain made six saves, while redshirt freshman Derick Roy made four saves in the win.

“Tonight was a good opportunity to get the chance to see all three [goalies],” Madigan said. “All three goalies might not have gotten the volume of shots they probably would have liked to see, but we’re measuring them based on obviously the shots, but also the rebound control, the positioning, getting out moving pucks, communicating with the defenseman, so we got a pretty good read from all three of those defensemen today and that’s why we have a competition.”

The Huskies have stressed focusing on their play behind the blue line and having a strong forecheck this season.

“Our major focuses coming into this year were defensive zone coverage, because we gave up 97 league goals last year which was way too many and we were dead last,” Madigan said. “We have to be better on zone. Not just the goalie, but the goalie, two defensemen, and three forwards, so it’s a six man unit.”

The Huskies start the regular season with Friday and Saturday home games against the University of Alabama-Huntsville. The Huskies swept the Chargers in two home games last year and are looking to see more of the same success.