The Northeastern men’s hockey team (2-6-3, 1-4-3 HE) surprised a sold-out Matthews Arena with a 4-2 upset victory over No. 3 Boston College (9-3-0, 4-2-0 HE) Nov. 23. After losing 3-0 the night before to the Eagles and still yet to notch their first Hockey East win, no one expected the Huskies to come out on top to take the weekend split, but they did just that. 

Northeastern started on the ice aggressively with some early good looks at the net from sophomore forward Dylan Hryckowian.

In the 10th minute, the Huskies maintained possession of the puck in their attack zone, trying to get something going. From near center ice, junior defenseman Jackson Dorrington swung at the net. The shot deflected off Eagles near the net, and senior forward Ryan McGuire scrambled for the puck. McGuire swept it behind the net, and with BC players hounding him, he shot the puck to Hryckowian. With sophomore goalie Jacob Fowler creeping to his right, Hryckowian was able to swing the puck into the wide-open left side of the net, getting the Huskies on the board, 1-0. 

Two minutes later, Northeastern built on the rhythm from Hryckowian’s goal and struck again. McGuire won a faceoff in the Huskies’ offensive zone. The puck went to Hryckowian, who took a swing, but Fowler made the save. In a lucky deflection, the puck slid right to Dorrington. With BC players in front of Fowler, he wasn’t able to see the shot from Dorrington, and the puck snuck right past the goaltender who has a .944 save percentage. Dorrington’s first goal of the season put the Huskies up 2-0 with just over seven minutes to go in the period. 

Although Northeastern appeared to have momentum on their side, the Eagles weren’t shaken. In the 15th minute, BC secured their first goal. From right down the center in BC’s attack zone, junior forward Andre Gasseau took a swing. Sophomore goalie Cameron Whitehead was able to make the save off his right knee. But junior forward Oskar Jellvik was in the right place at the right time, the puck rebounding off of Whitehead and into Jellvik’s reach. Whitehead was unable to reset, and Jellvik effortlessly guided the puck behind Whitehead and into the net. It was a one-goal game. 

The action of the first 20 continued 30 seconds later when junior forward and captain Jack Williams scored for the Huskies. After the Huskies won a faceoff in BC’s offensive zone and sent the puck down the ice, they tried to get set for a shot. Freshman forward Joe Connor sent the puck toward the net and it bounced off of junior defenseman Lukas Gustafsson. The bounce-off slid right to Williams, who quickly swung and buried the puck in the top corner of the net, giving Northeastern a 3-1 lead. Matthews Arena erupted.

WILL I AMS 😤

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— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) November 24, 2024

Twenty seconds later, penalties hurt both teams. Hryckowian was called for tripping freshman forward Dean Letourneau. Letourneau was penalized for embellishment and was also sent to the box, making it a four-on-four game, but no team was able to find the net in the two minutes. But the action-packed first period didn’t come to a calm end. In the final seconds of the period, in a huge call, Williams was given a five-minute major penalty for cross-checking. 

The Eagles started the second period with five long minutes of five-on-four play while the Huskies started it without their captain. Penalties have plagued Northeastern this year and head coach Jerry Keefe has stressed how much majors were hurting the team. “We’ve taken three major penalties this year, and we take way too many offensive zone penalties, and it’s just killing us right now,” Keefe said after the Nov.9 loss to Providence College. But Northeastern held BC from capitalizing on the power play. Whitehead and the Husky defense held strong, and despite the Eagles getting off 11 shots, they were unable to score. 

In the final seconds of BC’s power play, they were penalized for having too many players on the ice in a sloppy transition, giving Northeastern over a minute of their own five-on-four play. Connor, junior forward Cam Lund and junior forward Nick Rhéaume got swings off, but nothing found the goal during their power play. 

The puck was going back and forth, and each goalie was doing a fantastic job at defending. In the 17th minute, junior defenseman Joaquim Lemay was called for holding, giving the Eagles another power play chance. Gustafsson and Gasseau had good looks at the net, but the Husky defense kept BC from converting.

In the final minute of the period, Northeastern got their power play opportunity after freshman forward Jake Sondreal was assessed a penalty for cross-checking. But the Husky bench and Keefe, getting deja vu from Williams’ penalty earlier, challenged the initial two-minute penalty. The play went under review, and it was deemed a five-minute major. The second period came to an end, but the Huskies still had over four minutes of power play left. 

The Huskies have struggled with power play conversion this year with a .094 percent conversion rate, and they continued that trend. The final period opened with Northeastern’s power play, but it was unable to convert. The Huskies got another power play chance when freshman forward Teddy Stiga was called for slashing in the 11th minute, but once again, they failed to convert. 

With time running out, BC needed to get back on the board. In the 14th minute, Gustafsson swung from near center ice, but sophomore forward Billy Norcross made the block. In somewhat of a broken play, senior forward Mike Posma took a swing off the rebound, but Whitehead made the save for the Huskies. Sophomore forward Ryan Leonard slid in front of the net and the Huskies screen and shoved the puck in. With just over five minutes to go, BC closed on Northeastern’s lead 3-2.

The Eagles got an opportunity to even things up in the final seconds of the 16th minute when Lemay was sent to the box for holding. In an intense two minutes, including head coach Greg Brown pulling Fowler in the final 30 seconds of the power play to allow six Eagles to take the ice to Northeastern’s 4, the Huskies held BC from converting. 

With the Eagles power play coming to an end and just over a minute left in the game, the Huskies just needed to hold on to their lead, but they did one better. 

With under 10 seconds left on the clock, Northeastern got a hold of the puck off of a deflection and skated into their attack zone. With no goalie in sight for BC, Hryckowian notched his second goal of the night off a pass from Lund. It was the perfect way to end a perfect upset night for the Huskies. 

ICYMI: Dylan Hryckowian’s second goal for the cherry on top 🍒

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— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) November 24, 2024

“We needed a win and we were able to find a way to get one,” Keefe said after the game. “Now it’s all about building on this one.”

The victory over the Eagles earned Northeastern their first Hockey East win. The Huskies are back at home Dec. 3 for a non-conference matchup against Bentley University (9-4-1, 8-2-0 AHA). Puck drop is set for 3 p.m.