Coming off of their second Beanpot win in a row, the Huskies had a successful return to conference play this weekend, sweeping Vermont in two home games. After defeating UVM 4-1 Friday despite being outshot, NU won 2-1 on Saturday and also had the upper hand in the shot column.

It was the Huskies’ 19th win this season, tying the 2018-19 squad for the eighth most victories in NU history and moving Northeastern to 19-9-1 (11-7-1 HEA), while Vermont dropped to 12-16-2 (5-13-2 HEA). NU finished the weekend 11th in the Pairwise rankings, the top 16 of which qualify for the NCAA Tournament.

Northeastern controlled the game from the start. Just 56 seconds into regulation, senior forward Lincoln Griffin scored the first goal of the game for the Huskies when he entered the UVM zone on a 2-on-1 with senior forward Liam Pecararo. Head coach Jim Madigan said a stronger start was one of his top goals set after Friday’s rough first period.

“It was a key message for us, and I thought our start was excellent,” Madigan said. “I thought tonight we really responded with a much better effort and focus.”

The Huskies started with a bang again in the second when Matt Filipe took advantage of a Vermont penalty and put one past UVM goaltender Stefanos Lekkas at 2:52, redirecting freshman defender Julian Kislin’s shot. The Vermont offense was finally able to put one past sophomore goaltender Cayden Primeau less than a minute into the final frame when freshman forward Joey Cipollone scored on the power play.

Primeau had another great game, saving 23 of 24 shots, including a crucial stop early in the third when Vermont looked to tie up the game on the power play. Senior captain Eric Williams hit a personal milestone, playing in his 146th consecutive game and breaking the program record.

The Huskies are on the road next weekend for a two-game series against New Hampshire, but will be back in Matthews on March 2 to take on Boston College.