The Northeastern men’s hockey team (12-18-3, 7-13-3 HE) defeated the Merrimack College Warriors (13-19-1, 9-13-1 HE) for the first time this season Mar. 6, 2-1.
It was the third matchup between the teams this season, with Merrimack taking the previous two wins Dec. 14 and Jan. 25. Evenly matched, the Huskies and Warriors played a close game, trading shots, penalties and saves from the goaltender.
In the sixth minute of the first period, Merrimack sophomore forward Luke Weilandt was assessed a minor penalty for interference, putting the Huskies on the power play. One minute into the power play, junior defenseman Joaquim Lemay found junior forward Cam Lund with a pass behind the right faceoff circle. Lund fired his shot under the pads of sophomore goaltender Max Lundgren, putting Northeastern up 1-0 in the seventh minute.
The first period ended with the Huskies outshooting the Warriors 9-5.
The game remained 1-0 after the second period of play. Sophomore goaltender Cameron Whitehead notched 14 saves in the period for the Huskies.
In the 11th minute of the third period, Northeastern scored its second goal on the power play after junior forward Tyler Young was sent to the box for a tripping minor. Sophomore forward Dylan Hryckowian received a pass from Lemay along the left-hand boards before skating the puck to center ice. Hryckowian put his shot under the blocker of Lundgren, doubling the Huskies’ lead, 2-0. It marked Hryckowian’s 14th goal of the season, putting him second in total goals behind Lund’s 16.
(Val O’Neill)
Merrimack pulled Lundgren in the 15th minute of the third period, giving the team a one-man advantage in an attempt to get a goal back. Only a minute later the Warriors were successful as they cut the Huskies’ lead in half.
Graduate student forward Antonio Venuto found sophomore forward Michael Emerson in the left faceoff circle. Emerson fired a shot that was saved by Whitehead. Northeastern’s defense could not clear the puck before graduate student defenseman Josef Mysak jumped on it and made the score 2-1.
Merrimack’s goal was empty again in the 17th minute of the final period. After five blocked shots from the defense in the final minutes, the Huskies were victorious.
Northeastern will play its final game of the regular season against the Providence College Friars (20-9-5, 10-8-5 HE) on senior night Mar. 8 at 7 p.m. in Matthews Arena to finalize its standing in the Hockey East tournament.
