The force failed the Huskies Jan. 25 when Northeastern men’s hockey (9-11-3, 4-8-3 HE) narrowly fell to the Merrimack College Warriors (10-13-1, 6-7-1 HE) 4-3 at Star Wars night in Matthews Arena.
“We just can’t make the mistakes we made in the second period,” head coach Jerry Keefe said post-game.“Terrible on the PK [penalty kill], stupid penalty, a faceoff loss for a goal.”
The first period opened with Merrimack immediately taking control of the puck, launching two shots in the first 30 seconds. The Huskies were able to bring the puck down the ice a minute into the period. Freshman forward Joe Connor took a shot, but it was saved by Merrimack’s sophomore goaltender Max Lundgren.
Three minutes into the game, graduate student defenseman Jake Boltmann took a penalty for tripping, giving the Warriors the first power play of the night.
Merrimack was able to get four shots off during the advantage but couldn’t find the net.
Within the next minute and a half, Northeastern looked strong, taking six shots before Merrimack stole its momentum with the first goal of the night moments later.
With eight minutes to go in the first period, Merrimack captain and graduate student forward Antonio Venuto passed the puck to assistant captain and junior forward Tyler Young from the boards behind the net to Young in the lower slot. Young passed to sophomore forward Ethan Bonom who shot it past sophomore netminder Cameron Whitehead to the lower right of the net for a 1-0 scoreboard.
With a little more than two minutes left in the first period, Merrimack’s senior defenseman Ivan Zivlak was sent to the penalty box for holding.
After 29 shots in the period, junior forward Cam Lund was finally able to break the wall and tie up the score at one with 20 seconds left in the period. Junior defenseman Joaquim Lemay took the initial shot and Connor collected the rebound, but it bounced off a defenseman to Lund, who shot it behind Lundgren to the lower right of the net for a 1-1 scoreboard.
The period ended with Northeastern overpowering the shot count 21-12, but the energy dissipated going into the second period.
The Warriors quickly jumped out to a 2-1 lead in the first minute of the second period. Sophomore forward Luke Weilandt won the faceoff in the left-hand circle and the puck was collected by freshman forward Ryan O’Connell who dropped a pass to graduate student defenseman Josef Mysak. Mysak put his shot from the blue line over the left shoulder of Whitehead, giving Merrimack the lead for the second time in the night.
The Huskies’ best chance of the period came off of Connor’s shot in the second minute. His shot from the top of the left faceoff circle was pushed onto the left post by Lundgren.
Junior forward Nick Rhéaume was assessed for a two-minute interference penalty in the fourth minute. Thirty seconds later, the Warriors earned their third goal for a 3-1 game. Freshman forward Caden Cranston found sophomore defenseman Seamus Powell in the left faceoff circle. Powell’s shot went over the right shoulder of Whitehead.
Four minutes later, Merrimack made it 4-1. Powell released a shot that was initially saved by Whitehead, but Northeastern defensemen could not clear the puck away fast enough. Cranston jumped on the loose puck, tucking it into the empty right side of the net before Whitehead could recover.
The Huskies’ final chance of the second period came when captain and junior forward Jack Williams’ shot struck the crossbar in the 11th minute, before the puck was swept out of the Northeastern offensive zone.
Northeastern finished the period outshot 14-8, a stark dive from its initial shot advantage.
The Huskies came out with a fire in the third period, taking four shots in the first minute. The energy that was missing from the second period was found in the closing period.
Both teams had at least five shots within the first nine minutes, but Northeastern finally got its second goal of the night courtesy of junior defenseman Vinny Borgesi nine minutes into the period.
Sophomore forward Dylan Hryckowian slid the puck across the ice to Borgesi to cut in behind the Merrimack defenseman and slipped it past Lundgren for a 4-2 score.
Northeastern struggled to find its third goal in hopes to tie up the game with less than 10 minutes to go. The Huskies controlled the puck for the majority of the period, outshooting Merrimack 17-8.
With three minutes remaining in the game, Northeastern pulled Whitehead from the net for an extra attacker.
About 90 seconds later, the Huskies collected their third goal of the night, bringing the board to 4-3, revitalizing the DogHouse in Matthews Arena.
From the right faceoff circle, Williams passed it to Hryckowian, who was at the right goal post. Hryckowian turned and passed it off to Connor, who was waiting near the left post, who swung it in.
With less than two minutes to go, Northeastern took a timeout in hopes to tie up the game for the first time that night.
Williams won the faceoff back on the ice and shot from behind the net but it was saved by Lundgren. Connor attempted two shots but neither went in the right direction. Lemay shot from the rear of the attack zone but it was blocked by Merrimack.
With six seconds left, Northeastern had one more chance. Senior forward Ryan McGuire won the faceoff for Northeastern before he emptied the puck to Williams whose shot was blocked by Zivlak right before the clock expired.
During the final five minutes of the game, Keefe kept the same line on the ice. The coach expressed his reasoning on keeping line, saying he needs to expand the consistency beyond the four players on the ice for the five minutes.
“Didn’t feel like we had a lot of guys playing very well tonight. We can’t just have four guys,” Keefe said. “We have to figure it out and we have to figure it out fast.”
Northeastern will take on the University of Maine (15-5-3, 7-3-3- HE) Jan. 31 in Maine, the last game before the Beanpot tournament where the Huskies take on Boston College (18-4-1, 11-3-1 HE) in the first round Feb. 3.
