By Bailey Putnam, news correspondent

The Northeastern men’s hockey team fell to the University of New Hampshire (UNH) on Friday in Durham, N.H., but picked up its first win of the season on Saturday night after storming back from a one-goal deficit.

In his first game back since a back injury sidelined him for nearly a month, redshirt senior goaltender Clay Witt was immediately tested by the high-speed Wildcat offense, which quickly netted three goals in the first period.

The Huskies battled back to tie the score with goals from junior defensemen Jarrett Fennell and Colton Saucerman and sophomore forward Dalen Hedges.

However, a pair of third period goals put UNH back on top to win the game.

After dropping the 5-3 decision to the Wildcats on Friday night, the Huskies responded with a homecoming victory at Matthews Arena. The offensive line of sophomores John Stevens, Mike Szmatula and Ryan Rosenthal and freshman Nolan Stevens accounted for both of the third period goals that led the Huskies to victory.

After two scoreless periods, UNH struck first when junior forward Kyle Smith netted a backhander on a two-on-one opportunity two minutes into the third. A minute and 20 seconds later, Rosenthal responded and buried a rebound past UNH freshman goaltender Adam Clark’s right pad.

The Huskies continued to put the pressure on, earning a slew of goal opportunities during a UNH too-many-men penalty at 6:05 into the period.

The go-ahead goal didn’t come until just after the power play ended when Nolan Stevens rifled a one-timer, high-glove side off a pass from his brother, John, for his first collegiate goal. Witt, along with the NU defense, shut the door for the remainder of the game. Witt posted 35 saves.

“[The players] work hard,” Head Coach Jim Madigan said. “They come to practice every day, they’re upbeat, and no one’s head is in the sand. It’s a good group to coach.”

Despite the loss to UNH, senior forward captain Adam Reid was pleased with the way his team responded by winning Saturday’s game.

“You don’t like to put too much emphasis on one win in a thirty-plus game season,” Reid said Saturday night. “But obviously with our record and the way things have been going, getting over that hump and getting the first [win] is huge for our season.”

Madigan emphasized the importance of getting a win in historic Matthews Arena.

“We needed to win in this building,” Madigan said. “We haven’t played well in this building and it was a great crowd. We need to keep our fans coming back, they were excellent.”

Despite the rocky start to the season, the Huskies have remained confident and motivated through the adversity.

“Keeping ourselves going hasn’t been difficult to be honest,” Reid said. “We’ve got a really motivated group.”

Up next, the Huskies travel to Merrimack College on Friday before returning home on Saturday to play the Warriors again at 7 p.m.

“We look forward to playing a really good Merrimack team [on] Friday,” Madigan said.

Photo courtesy Jim Pierce, Northeastern Athletics