By Bailey Putnam, news correspondent
The Northeastern men’s hockey team peppered University of Massachusetts (UMass) Amherst freshman goaltender Henry Dill with 44 shots on Friday, but couldn’t find a way to put more than two past him in the Huskies’ 3-2 loss at Matthews Arena.
Northeastern, searching for its first win of the season, outshot the Minutemen by 16 and looked dominant as it entered the third period with the score locked at 2. However, a one-time goal off the stick of UMass junior forward Emerson Auvenshine rang off the inside of the post and into the back of the net with 11:09 left in regulation, sealing the win for the Minutemen.
The Huskies had some of their most promising looks of the season Friday night, but Dill turned aside all but two, posting a .955 save percentage.
“We got a lot of good quality shots,” Northeastern Head Coach Jim Madigan said. “It’s not like we were just throwing pucks to the net. There were a lot of quality opportunities.”
The Huskies capitalized on chances from redshirt senior forward Torin Snydeman and sophomore forward Dalen Hedges, who both scored in the first period.
Snydeman buried the first goal through Dill’s five-hole less than four minutes into the game. Sophomore forward Zach Aston-Reese dangled past a UMass defender and feathered the puck up to Snydeman, who waited near the top of the crease.
Hedges’ goal came 15:38 into the first period after the Minutemen had netted a pair of their own. The 5-foot-7 sophomore from Ottawa scooped up a rebound sitting in the crease and fired it home.
The second period was a goaltending battle as both Dill and NU redshirt sophomore Derick Roy turned aside all 14 and nine shots, respectively. Roy posted 25 total saves in his second straight start, replacing the assistant captain redshirt senior Clay Witt, who was out with an upper body injury.
Madigan said the team needs to keep looking forward at the long road ahead.
“At the end of the day, we’re 0-2 in the league and there’s 22 league games, so there’s a long way to go,” he said. “It’s just a matter of keeping ourselves focused and positive.”
Madigan is confident in the way his team is playing and said they are bound for better outcomes if they continue to play the same way and work hard in practice.
“We’ll turn this thing around in the next game in a positive [way] because I’ve seen too many good signs, and the kids are working,” Madigan said. “It gets frustrating, but you just have to park that and get back to work.”
Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics
