By Bailey Putnam, news correspondent

The Northeastern men’s hockey team kicked off its 2014 season with a loss on Sunday afternoon. The team fell short 3-2 to the Acadia University Axemen in exhibition play after the back-and-forth season opener at Matthews Arena.

Despite striking first and out-shooting the Axemen 22-14 in the first 40 minutes, the Huskies trailed for almost the entire third period after allowing a pair of goals at inopportune times. Acadia netted its first go-ahead goal with 53 seconds left in the second period to make it 2-1 at intermission, and senior forward Alex Beaton scored the game winner just a minute and a half after Husky junior forward Kevin Roy snuck an equalizer in midway through the third.

Northeastern sophomore forward Zach Aston-Reese capitalized on a penalty shot at 10:05 in the first period by pulling Axemen sophomore goaltender Brandon Glover from left to right and burying a five-hole between the goalie’s legs.

Acadia answered in the second period when senior forward Liam Heelis roofed a backhander over Northeastern redshirt senior goalie Clay Witt’s blocker.  Freshman forward Boston Leier tipped a slap shot past Husky redshirt sophomore goalie Derick Roy who took over for Witt halfway through the game.

For Head Coach Jim Madigan, the exhibition matchup against the Canadian university provided an opportunity for him to assess the status of his team and play around with the different line combinations.

“For us, tonight was an opportunity to evaluate where we were this early in the season,” Madigan said.

Updates to this year’s squad include the announcement that seniors Dax Lauwers, defenseman, and Adam Reid, forward, will serve as co-captains. Redshirt senior forward Torin Snydeman and Witt will be sporting the “A” on their jerseys for alternate captains.

This year includes the addition of five freshmen and two transfer sophomores, who join the 12 other sophomore players on the team. Forward Brendan Collier, who grew up in Charlestown, joins the Huskies this year after playing his freshman season at Boston University.

“I played in [Matthews Arena] when I was in middle school and elementary school. I remember being here at eight in the morning on Saturdays, so I’m very familiar with this building,” Collier said.

Collier, who was drafted by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2012 NHL draft, said the team needs to stay calm and focus on the basics in the next game.

“I think we just have to stick to the course more; we got hectic at times. I feel like, because we have so much skill, we almost don’t know what to do with it,” Collier said.

Aston-Reese added that the Huskies still need to work on team chemistry before the next game against the University of Vermont.

“Even the guys coming back from last year were playing with new guys, so it’s just a matter of knowing where your new linemates are and welcoming the new guys into the system,” he said.

The Huskies have a week to work out the kinks before their regular season opener at home on Oct. 11.

“More than anything, as we walk away from [this game], it allows us now to prepare for Vermont on Saturday,” Madigan said. “We’ve got tape, we’ve got a game under our belt, and we’ll use the next five days to get ready for Vermont.”

Photo by Nabila Abuljadayel