The No. 14 Northeastern men’s hockey (7-1, 3-0 HE) completed its sweep of the Stonehill College Skyhawks (1-10, 0-0 Northeast Conference) 4-2 Nov. 8 after defeating the team 2-0 the night before.
For the first time since playing Army West Point Oct. 10, the Huskies did not strike first. It was junior forward Matthew Romer who got the first point on the board within the first minute of play.
Romer was able to get around senior defenseman Austen May for a one-on-one with junior goaltender Lawton Zacher for an easy shot to the lower right.
Northeastern retaliated, finding their own goal with under 50 seconds left on the clock for the first period, courtesy of junior forward and assistant captain Dylan Hryckowian.
From inside the blue line, senior defenseman Dylan Finlay passed down the boards to freshman forward Jacob Mathieu, who tapped it to freshman forward Amine Hajibi. Alone behind the net, Hajibi sent a backhanded pass to a patient Hryckowian in the crease.
Thirteen minutes into the second period, Northeastern took the lead. Stonehill’s sophomore forward Joel Lehtinens was sent to the box for high stick, giving the Huskies an advantage they were able to capitalize on. Senior defenseman Vinny Borgesi passed to Hryckowian at the left faceoff circle, who one-timed the puck to freshman forward Giacomo Martino.
Five minutes later, Romer once again found the back of the net for the Skyhawks, tying the game 2-2. This was a power play goal for Stonehill, with Borgesi in the box for roughing. Romer took the puck himself from above the left faceoff circle into the center and sniped it into the net.
This was the last of the penalties for both teams as they headed into the final period, looking for the goal to break them free of the tie.
With fourteen minutes left in the third frame, Martino broke the stalemate. Behind their own net, Borgesi passed to junior forward Tyler Fukakusa at the right faceoff circle. Fukakusa sent the puck up the ice to Martino inside the opposite blue line for a breakaway to put the Huskies up 3-0.
In the last minute, Stonehill pulled its goalie, graduate student Connor Androlewicz. However, this did not help the team’s case as Hryckowian scored his second goal of the night.
Graduate student defenseman Evan Orr was dispossessed by junior forward Eli Sebastian. Hryckowian picked up the loose puck in the center of the ice and hustled inside the blue line with two defensemen on him before sending it into the net.
Northeastern will take on the University of Connecticut (4-4-2, 0-0 HE) on the road Nov. 14 and at Matthews Arena Nov. 15 for 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games, respectively. The last time the teams faced off March 1, Northeastern took a 7-1 loss.
