Northeastern men’s hockey (11-18-3, 6-13-3 HE) fell to the University of Connecticut Huskies (19-10-4, 11-8-4 HE) Feb. 28 and March 1 5-2 and 7-1, respectively. 

In the opening period, Connecticut won nine of 13 faceoffs and allowed just four shots on freshman goaltender Callum Tung. His counterpart, sophomore goaltender Cameron Whitehead, faced 10 shots. 

UConn saw success from its offensive onslaught in the 16th minute of the first period. Graduate student defenseman John Spetz skated the puck along the right-hand boards before finding graduate student forward Hudson Schandor behind the net. Schandor dropped a quick pass back to Spetz, whose backhanded shot was saved by Whitehead. The rebound fell to sophomore forward Joey Muldowney, and his shot put Connecticut 1-0. 

Northeastern was able to shift the game’s momentum to begin the second period, getting six shots off and winning all six faceoffs. However, that did not last long. 

Junior forward Jack Williams was assessed a minor penalty for hooking in the sixth minute of the second period. In the eighth minute and second of the power play, sophomore forward Jake Richard collected a deflected cross-ice pass from junior forward Ryan Tattle and fired a shot over the left shoulder of Whitehead from behind the left faceoff circle to double his team’s lead. 

Northeastern got one back just 22 seconds later. Sophomore forward Dylan Hryckowian sent junior forward Cam Lund a pass through four UConn defenders in the neutral zone. Lund slid the puck underneath Tung’s pads to cut the lead in half 2-1.

Don’t leave Lundy at the doorstep 💁‍♂️

📺 https://t.co/UEa1Ld0tQO pic.twitter.com/GTlH21Nlzs

— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) March 1, 2025

In the 16th minute of the second period, UConn regained its two goal lead. Richard dispossessed Williams on the left-hand side of the ice and found Schandor in the right-hand faceoff circle. Schandor’s shot went under the glove of Whitehead and made the score 3-1 to end the second period.

Northeastern got within one goal for the second time two minutes into the third period, making it 3-2. Freshman defenseman Seth Constance slid the puck along the left-hand boards to Williams behind the red line, who dropped a pass to Hryckowian. Hryckowian drove the puck toward the net and had his shot saved by Tung. Lund entered the crease to poke the puck into the back of the net.

In the 15th minute of the third period, UConn went up 4-2. Junior forward Jake Percival gained possession in the neutral zone after the puck got stuck along the boards. Percival skated into Northeastern’s defensive zone and found Tattle between two defenders to slot the puck home. 

UConn’s fifth and final goal of the night came from Tattle’s empty net goal in the final second of the game, which brought the final score to 5-2. 

Northeastern returned to Matthews Arena on March 1 with the opportunity to even the series but the team was unable to achieve this, losing 7-1. Northeastern turned to freshman goaltender Quentin Sigurdson for the second game, his third start of the season. 

In the seventh minute of the first period, Spetz fired a shot from the blue line that was saved by Sigurdson. However, he was screened by a battle between UConn junior forward Tristan Fraser and Northeastern senior forward Ryan McGuire, allowing sophomore defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg to score easily, 1-0.

UConn went 2-0 up in the 14th minute of the first period. Freshman forward Ethan Whitcomb played a give-and-go with freshman forward Ethan Gardula from the neutral zone into the offensive zone. Whitcomb chipped his shot over the left shoulder of Sigurdson. 

One minute later, graduate student forward Hugh Larkin was sent to the box for interference, putting Northeastern on a power play in the 15th minute of the first period. Forty seconds later, Hryckowian sent a pass from the left-hand faceoff circle to junior defenseman Joaquim Lemay at the blue line. Lemay fired a shot that slid under the pads of junior goaltender Tyler Muszelik, making the score 2-1.

In the 18th minute, Northeastern received a minor penalty for having too many men on the ice.  With 20 seconds remaining in the first period, Schander played a back-handed pass through the crease, which was poked in by Spetz, increasing UConn’s lead to 3-1.

Northeastern switched to Whitehead between the pipes at the start of the second period. 

Whitehead immediately made an impact, making six saves in nine minutes. But Northeastern could not capitalize on the relief provided by their goaltender. In the 10th minute, graduate student defenseman Nick Carabin dumped the puck along the back boards to Richard. He slid the puck in front of Northeastern’s crease for Carabin to skate onto and triple the team’s lead, 4-1. 

UConn kept rolling four minutes later, scoring its fifth goal of the night with six minutes to go in the second period. Freshman defenseman Trey Scott passed along the blue line to freshman defenseman Kai Janviriya, who fired a shot. Janviriya’s shot was tipped in by Whitcomb, past a diving Whitehead for a 5-1 game.

Connecticut showed no signs of letting up in the third period, going up 6-1 seven minutes in. Graduate student defenseman Jake Boltmann was dispossessed by Muldowney on the right boards of Northeastern’s defensive zone. He dropped a pass to a wide open Richard in the faceoff circle to fire the puck under Whitehead’s blocker. 

Seven minutes later, UConn scored its final goal of the weekend. Gardula sent a pass from the defensive zone to Whitcomb in the offensive zone. Whitcomb slid a quick pass to freshman forward Kaden Shahan to skate from the blue line, deked Whitehead and the puck in the back of the net for a 7-1 final score. 

Northeastern will play its penultimate game of the season on the road against the Merrimack College Warriors (13-18-1, 9-12-1 HE) March 6.