Northeastern men’s hockey (2-1, 1-0 HE) defeated the No. 11 University of Massachusetts Minutemen (3-1, 0-1 HE) in a 4-2 upset in the Huskies’ first conference game.
Northeastern struck early as sophomore forward Griffin Erdman scored less than two minutes into the game. Sophomore defenseman Jack Henry then took a shot from the blue line into a busy scramble for Erdman, who tapped it in.
The Huskies struggled getting the puck in the net in their last game against West Point Oct. 10. Northeastern outshot Army 32 to 23 but could only notch one goal in a 2-1 loss.
Sophomore forward Joe Connor doubled the Huskies’ lead in the second period, scoring less than a minute and a half into the frame and putting them up 2-0.
Twelve minutes later, UMass cut that lead down to one. Junior forward Bo Cosman took a shot past senior defenseman Joaquim Lemay, hitting off the glove of junior goaltender Lawton Zacher and into the net.
At 17 minutes, freshman forward Giacomo Martino collected his second collegiate goal against the Minutemen to increase Northeastern’s lead to 3-1.
Freshman forward Jacob Mathieu dispossessed a UMass player before junior forward Tyler Fukakusa grabbed the loose puck, sending it down the ice to a hustling Martino. Martino took on junior goaltender Michael Hrabal, ending in a goal.
Mathieu, Fukakusa and Martino are all new players for the Huskies but are already making an impact on the ice. Mathieu has had one goal and two assists in three games, and Fukakusa holds four assists.
Lemay was sent to the box for interference, and during this advantage, the Minutemen once again cut down the Huskies’ lead, bringing the score to 3-2.
Sophomore forward Daniel Jenčko passed from the outer line of the right circle into the scramble near the crease. In this confusion, junior forward Jack Musa tapped the puck into the net backhanded.
Despite these two goals, Zacher collected 25 saves, four more than the previous game against West Point. The transfer from Brown University made notable saves through the night to prevent the Minutemen from tying the game.
In the last minute of the game, UMass emptied its net for an extra skater, but Northeastern capitalized on this extra inside.
Jenčko got the puck from behind the net, and in an attempt to pass it up the ice, accidentally passed it to senior defenseman and captain Vinny Borgesi. Borgesi passed the puck wide to junior forward Dylan Hryckowian, who one-timed the puck into the net, sealing the win 4-2. This was Hryckowian’s second goal of the season.
Northeastern will play the Harvard University Crimson (0-0, 0-0 ECAC) in its exhibition game Oct. 18 at 5 p.m. at home.
