The Northeastern men’s hockey team (6-9-3, 1-6-3 HE) began 2025 with a decisive 5-1 win over the 18th ranked Quinnipiac Bobcats (10-7-1, 6-3-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) Jan. 4.
The teams previously met at an exhibition match Oct. 6, with Northeastern winning the contest, 4-2.
Despite the Huskies being outshot 13-5, the first period was scoreless. Sophomore goaltender Cameron Whitehead was a major factor in keeping the scoreline level, saving each of the 13 shots he faced in the period. Five additional shots were blocked by Northeastern players in the defensive zone.
In the 11th minute of the second period, junior defender Jackson Dorrington collected the puck off of a blocked shot in Northeastern’s defensive zone before sending a pass the length of the ice to senior forward Ryan McGuire, who was exiting the penalty box. McGuire went one-on-one with freshman goaltender Dylan Silverstein, taking it to his left side before putting a backhand shot over a sliding Silverstein’s shoulder.
Two minutes later, sophomore forward Dylan Hyrckowian doubled the Huskies’ lead. Junior forward Cam Lund beat a defender in the offensive zone before dropping a pass to junior forward Jack Williams. Silverstein, expecting a shot from Williams, who instead passed it, left the net open for Hyrckowian to fire a shot in from the left-hand side of the ice.
Whitehead saved another 12 shots to keep Northeastern up by two heading into the third period.
Hyrckowian kept the Huskies rolling just 30 seconds into the third period. Junior defender Vinny Borgesi received a pass from Williams at the bottom of the right face-off circle before putting a pass toward Silverstein’s crease. Although the initial pass did not threaten the defenders, Quinnipiac players failed to gain control of the puck, allowing Hyrckowian to slide the puck under Silverstein.
To gain a two player advantage after a penalty for tripping was called on graduate student defender Jake Boltmann, Quinnipiac pulled Silverstein from the net in the 12th minute. Northeastern took advantage of the unattended goal, as freshman forward Griffin Erdman won the faceoff, allowing Williams to score easily on the empty net from Northeastern’s defensive zone.
In the 15th minute of the third period, Lund cleared the puck from the Huskies’s defensive zone, which was skated on to by Hyrckowian, putting him one-on-one with the goaltender. Hyrckowian’s first effort was saved by a diving Silverstein, but he was able to get the rebound to complete his hat trick, the team’s first of the season. The hat trick put Hyrckowian past Lund as the leading goalscorer for the Huskies, notching 11 goals this season to Lund’s nine.
Northeastern was unable to keep Whitehead’s shutout performance in the final 90 seconds of the game. Freshman forward Tyler Borgula slid a pass through the legs of freshman defenseman Jack Henry to freshman forward Chris Pelosi. Pelosi spun around and shot the puck, which deflected off the back skate of Boltmann and into the back of the net to put the Bobcats on the board.
Quinnipiac fired two more unsuccessful shots before time expired, giving Northeastern a 5-1 victory. This is the third win against top-20 opponents for the Huskies this season, previously defeating No. 11 Providence College Nov. 8 and No. 3 Boston College Nov. 23.
The Huskies will play their first home game of the new year against the UMass Amherst Minutemen (8-8-2, 2-5-2 HE) at Matthews Arena Jan. 10.
