The Northeastern men’s hockey team (2-1, 1-0 HE) was defeated by the Harvard University Crimson (0-0, 0-0 Eastern College Athletic Conference) 4-2 in an exhibition game Saturday, Oct. 18.
As is common in an exhibition game, head coach Jerry Keefe elected to switch up a number of the offensive and defensive lines. Players with different skill and experience levels on the same line meant that play was not at its best, but games like this are essential for the development of younger players and will help the team going forward.
In the third minute, freshman defenseman Dylan Compton centered a pass to sophomore forward Griffin Erdman, who dropped the puck to freshman forward Amine Hajibi. Hajibi’s first shot was saved, and he fired the rebound into the back of the net.
Five minutes later, the Crimson leveled the score. Senior forward Casey Severo’s cross-ice ricocheted off the boards on the right side of the ice before sophomore forward Mick Thompson collected the puck, skated to the blue line and slotted it over the right shoulder of sophomore goaltender Quentin Sigurdson.
For the remainder of the period, Northeastern played clean hockey. Defenders blocked shots and kept the puck away from Sigurdson. Although he has yet to start in a regular season game, Sigurdson stepped up in his first start this season, making several key saves to keep his team in the game. Husky forwards got five shots off in the final 11 minutes of the period, forcing two saves out of sophomore goaltender Ben Charette.
The match remained even through the first eight minutes of the second period, with both teams taking five shots.
In the ninth minute, the Huskies broke through. Junior forward Dylan Hryckowian intercepted a botched pass in the neutral zone and broke away from the defense into a one-on-one before putting the puck over Charette and giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
The game got away from Northeastern in the third period. The team could not connect passes and maintain puck possession in its zone, limiting scoring chances.
In the 11th minute of the third frame, junior forward Cameron Johnson fired a shot that was deflected into the air by a Husky defenseman. Freshman forward Jack Pechar attempted to handle the puck; however, it fell back to Johnson, who slotted it over Sigurdson’s left blocker and evened the score at two. After this goal, freshman goaltender Matt DellaRusso came into the game for the first time in his collegiate career to replace Sigurdson.
The Crimson took the lead five minutes later with a stellar team goal.
Thompson won a battle for the puck along the boards and found Severo in the center of Northeastern’s defensive zone. Severo dropped a pass to senior forward Philip Tresca, who perfectly placed his shot over DellaRusso’s shoulder.
With seconds remaining in the game, Harvard scored an insurance goal after Pechar mishandled the puck in the offensive zone. Tresca pounced on the puck and sent it the length of the ice into the Huskies’ empty net to give the Crimson a 4-2 win.
Northeastern will look to bounce back against No. 5 University of Denver (2-1-1, 0-0 National Collegiate Hockey Conference) Saturday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. for Friends & Family Weekend.
