Northeastern men’s hockey (4-1, 2-0 HE) took down another ranked opponent, this time cross-town rival No. 10/11 Boston College Eagles (2-3-1, 0-1-0 HE), on BC’s home ice, the Conte Forum. The last time the teams faced off was last year’s Hockey East quarterfinals, where the Huskies beat the Eagles 3-1. This win came after Northeastern’s humiliating loss against the team in the Beanpot semifinals 8-2.
Sophomore forward James Fisher claimed the first goal of the night and his first goal of the season. With under four minutes to go in the first period, a clash of sticks between junior forward Eli Sebastian and Boston College’s sophomore forward Dean Letourneau pushed the puck toward Fisher at the top of the right faceoff circle, where he sniped the shot into the top left of the net.
The Huskies doubled their lead about a minute later. Freshman forward Giacomo Martino skated alongside the left side of the ice, drawing a defender before dropping it back above the right faceoff circle to senior captain and defenseman Vinny Borgesi, who blasted his shot into the net. This was the senior’s first goal of the season.
Boston College cut the lead 2-1 with less than two minutes in the first period. The Eagles were on the power play due to Borgesi’s cross checking, passing the puck around before knocking it to sophomore forward Teddy Stiga, who scored.
Sophomore forward James Hagens shot the puck at the right faceoff circle but missed the net, the rebound off the boards going to senior forward Oskar Jellvik, who lost his footing but managed to pass to Stiga on his way down. Stiga tapped the puck behind his back past junior goaltender Lawton Zacher.
There was no scoring in the second period — both teams took shots and had advantages with power plays, but neither were able to hit the back of the net.
Scoring resumed for the Huskies in the third period, but the Eagles were unsuccessful.
With 15 minutes remaining in the final period, junior forward and assistant captain Dylan Hryckowian collected the puck behind the net from sophomore forward Joe Connor. Hryckowian came from behind the net, trying to hit freshman forward Jack Pechar in front, but it was blocked. The puck ricocheted off a BC defenseman to Connor, who was waiting between the faceoff circles. Connor quickly passed to Hryckowian inside the left faceoff circle and shot a one-timer into the net.
Hryckowian was one of the team’s most reliable scorers last season, taking 17 goals and 19 assists. So far this season, the junior netted three goals with 15 shots.
Hyrckowian’s success doubled when Connor joined the team last season. The duo proved to be a force, and the players’ chemistry on the ice translated with the addition of Pechar in the line.
With Boston College desperate to score another goal, the team took out its goaltender, junior Jan Korec, for an extra attacker. This strategy worked in the Huskies’ favor instead.
After a scramble following the faceoff on Northeastern’s end of the ice, Zacher pushed the puck out to the right side of the ice to Hryckowian. The assistant captain hit the puck against the boards in a pass to a flying Connor, who passed backward between two Eagles to a hustling freshman forward Jacob Mathieu, scoring with only a little pressure from behind.
Off this play, BC’s senior defenseman and captain Lukas Gustafsson earned a major for boarding Connor. After Connor passed to Mathieu, Gustafsson shoved the sophomore into the boards, giving Northeastern a five-minute power play with only 12 seconds to go. Due to the severity of the penalty, the captain was ejected from the game. With little time left in the game to serve his time off the ice, it’s unclear whether Gustafsson will play in the game today.
As the clock wound down, the Huskies surrounded Zacher for another fantastic game, collecting 40 saves — his season-high. Zacher kept the Huskies in the game with impressive saves, including one glove save where the BC player’s stick even got caught in the junior’s glove.
The two teams will face each other again — this time at Matthews Arena Oct. 31 at 7 p.m., where the Huskies look to continue their winning streak to four and earn a spot in the NCAA rankings.
