At Matthews Arena Nov. 11, the Northeastern men’s hockey team (2-4-0, 0-4-0 HE) faced a brutal 5-2 loss against Providence College (7-1-2, 3-0-2 HE), which is ranked fifth nationally and first in Hockey East.
The Huskies came into Saturday’s match re-energized and anxious for a win after a rough 2-1 overtime loss to the Friars on Friday. With a full and fired-up student section for the homecoming game, the Huskies skated onto the ice with a vengeance.
Northeastern won the first face-off and took two early shots, missing the goal just wide. From then on, Providence dominated the first period. The Friars took five shots within 50 seconds, all of which were either just wide or saved by Northeastern freshman goaltender Cameron Whitehead.
Three minutes in, a penalty on freshman defender Michael Fisher gave Providence a power play. The Friars seemed unstoppable, putting together seamless passes and getting multiple drives for the goal. Whitehead continued to make saves and kept Northeastern alive until the end of the power play.
After six more shots from the Friars, the seventh found the net for Providence. Providence senior forward Nick Poisson passed the puck from just behind the goal, and senior forward Chase Yode shoved it hard on the right side of the net, where Whitehead was unable to save it.
After getting a taste of the net, Providence was hungry for more, putting up shot after shot. Northeastern could not keep the puck in its zone and only managed to scrape together four shots before the Friars scored their second goal, the puck slipping right underneath Whitehead’s left knee on a shot from freshman forward Tanner Adams.
With an early 2-0 lead, the Friars ended the first period with 27 attempted shots, more than tripling the Huskies’ eight.
The second period opened with several more shot attempts from Providence, who continued to dominate possession.
However, an opportunity to get on the board came for the Huskies in the third minute. A penalty on the Friars for slashing brought the Huskies a power play, but while Northeastern had a few good looks at the net, one shot bouncing off the pipe, the Huskies were unable to score.
Northeastern and Providence traded shots back and forth, with back-to-back saves from Whitehead and Providence sophomore goaltender Philip Svedebäck. Toward the end of the second period, the Huskies had a few opportunities at the net but struggled to put the puck in.
The third period opened with a game misconduct for contact to the head against Friars junior defender Guillaume Richard in the first minute. Northeastern took advantage of the five-minute power play, and in the second minute, finally found the back of the net. Senior forward Gunnarwolfe Fontaine slammed the puck in from right down the center for his second goal of the weekend.
Northeastern continued to put up shots, but a hooking call on captain and junior forward Justin Hryckowian, who returned to the ice Friday night after a month-long injury, brought it to four-on-four on the ice. After the penalties for each team concluded within seconds of each other, a penalty was called on Huskies graduate student forward Brett Edwards for a broken stick, and Providence was right back in a power play.
The Friars used their advantage to score once more in the eighth minute, putting the Huskies down 3-1.
Whitehead continued to make saves, and sophomore defender Vinny Borgesi blocked a shot from Providence.
Another misconduct on Providence sent freshman forward Hudson Malinoskito to the locker room for kneeing, and a five-minute power play began for the Huskies. After settling their offense, Borgesi passed the puck from the left of the goal right up to Hryckowian standing near the net, who put the puck in right past Providence’s goalie for his first goal of the season.
Over the rest of power play, Northeastern took two shots but could not get anything going.
As the power play ended for Northeastern, Adams, serving the penalty, snuck out of the box, scooped up the puck and buried it in the net for his second of the night.
The Huskies then lost their rhythm and began getting sloppy.
As the puck flew to Northeastern’s side, sophomore defensive player Jackson Dorrington picked it up, attempting to reset the offense. Instead, out of nowhere, Friars sophomore forward Jaroslav Chmelar stole the puck and put it in the net, giving Providence its fifth goal of the game.
With three minutes left, it all fell apart for the Huskies. A penalty for too many players on the ice sent the Friars into another power play. Providence took a few shots to close the game; Northeastern looked utterly exhausted.
The final score was 5-2, Providence. This game was the fifth loss in a row for the Huskies.
Northeastern hosts No. 14 New Hampshire (4-2-1, 2-1-1 HE) Nov. 17 at 7 p.m to start the next series. The Huskies faced the Wildcats two weeks ago and lost 4-1.
