By Bailey Putnam, news correspondent
The Northeastern men’s hockey team picked up a loss and an overtime tie this weekend against the University of Massachusetts (UMass) Lowell River Hawks. The Huskies are now 0-7-1.
The Huskies traveled to the Tsongas Center in Lowell on Friday, Nov. 7, where they battled back from a two-goal deficit to tie the River Hawks, 3-3.
UMass took a 2-0 lead into the first intermission after junior forward A.J. White scored a pair of goals in the first period. The Huskies responded by scoring three goals over a 16-minute span of play before the River Hawks netted another to tie the game.
Freshman and sophomore forwards Dylan Sikura and Zach Aston-Reese both capitalized on power play opportunities in the second period to put the Huskies on the board.
Sikura snuck a loose puck past UMass junior goaltender Kevin Boyle after a shot from the point for his first collegiate goal. Aston-Reese knotted the game at two when he scored after a loose-puck scramble in front of the net. The goal was Aston-Reese’s first of the season.
The Huskies gained the lead just over a minute into the third period with a goal from sophomore forward Ryan Rosenthal. Rosenthal took a feed from Aston-Reese and fired the puck over Boyle’s right shoulder for his second goal of the season. UMass answered six minutes later with its second five-on-three goal of the night to tie the game again 3-3.
Redshirt sophomore goaltender Derick Roy tied his career-high with 38 saves on the night, including a leg save in the final minute of overtime.
“I thought Derick Roy was tremendous,” Head Coach Jim Madigan said. “He gave us the opportunity to get the point and kept us in the game.”
Northeastern could not roll the momentum from the tie into Saturday night and suffered a 5-0 defeat at home. The River Hawks’ freshman goaltender Jeff Smith earned his first career shutout, turning aside 20 shots, including a penalty-shot stop on Rosenthal.
Madigan shared his frustration in a press conference after the game.
“I thought it was a game of boys versus men,” he said. “They were men and we were boys.”
The Huskies have struggled to generate offense, only posting 14 goals in nine games. This problem stems from their play in the defensive zone, according to Madigan.
“This isn’t about scoring goals, this is about playing team defense,” Madigan said. “This is about competing, battling and imposing your will. When you do those things then your offense will come.”
The Huskies will travel to Durham, N.H. to play the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on Friday. They return home Saturday to face UNH again at 7 p.m. in Matthews Arena.
Photo by Arzu Martinez
