The Northeastern men’s hockey team (12-9, 7-6 HE) defeated the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (11-10, 5-6 HE) 5-2 Jan. 18, completing a weekend sweep after winning Jan. 16 4-0.
“I was just happy for the guys to get a couple big wins,” head coach Jerry Keefe said. “It’s hard to sweep in this league, so hopefully we can keep building on that.”
Play was sloppy for the Huskies in the opening minutes of the contest; they lost possession and required five blocks and four team saves by the defensemen. During this time, the Wildcats outshot Northeastern 12 to eight.
In the 12th minute of the period, freshman forward Matthew Maltais found a breakthrough for the Huskies, putting his team up 1-0. Sophomore forward Griffin Erdman dispossessed freshman defenseman Nick De Angelis in the neutral zone before breaking away and firing off a shot that hit off of senior goaltender Jared Whale’s pads. Maltais crashed the net and jumped on the end of the rebound, slotting it into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal.
The Wildcats didn’t stay down for long and tied the game at one apiece in the 14th minute. Freshman forward Jacob Newcombe capitalized on a whiffed pass by senior defenseman Austen May, brought the puck backhand to forehand and easily slipped it past junior goaltender Lawton Zacher.
Four minutes later, junior forward Dylan Hryckowian gained control of the puck in the neutral zone and broke away from his defenders before being tripped, sending Whale to the ice and knocking the net off. After a review, it was determined that the puck crossed the line, giving Northeastern a 2-1 lead.
The Huskies maintained their momentum, doubling the lead just three minutes into the second period. Junior forward Tyler Fukakusa skated the puck from the neutral zone into the offensive zone and sent a cross-ice pass to junior forward Eli Sebastian, who tipped the puck into the back of the net.
“[Sebastian] got rewarded for playing really good hockey,” Keefe said. “[Fukakusa] is an outstanding playmaker, and [Sebastian] always gives you a really honest game. That’s what we like about him.”
Just 14 seconds later, Northeastern found the back of the net again, going up 4-1. Freshman forward Félix Gagnon played a blind pass that Erdman gained possession of. He fired a shot that was saved by Whale, but managed to slot the rebound into the left side of the goal.
After this goal, senior goaltender Kyle Chauvette replaced Whale between the pipes for the Wildcats. Chauvette played the whole game for the Wildcats in the first matchup between the two teams.
This change shifted the tides for UNH, which began to find its stride. In the next seven minutes, they dominated possession of the puck and forced Zacher to make three crucial saves.
“We needed him to make some key saves there at the right time, and he was really good,” Keefe said.
In the 11th minute of the second period, the Wildcats cut the lead down to two. With a delayed penalty called on the Huskies, Chauvette was pulled from the goal in return for an extra attacker. This proved to be beneficial when junior forward Nick Ring found a wide open senior forward Cy LeClerc in the right faceoff circle for an easy goal.
Zacher came up with six more saves to finish out the second period with a 4-2 Northeastern lead.
“We talked about trying to win the third period. That was the goal,” Keefe said. “I thought we had some really good looks off of the transition in the third period.”
The third period proved to be a battle of the goaltenders. The Huskies and Wildcats took turns firing off shots that were ultimately saved by each team’s shot stopper. Chauvette produced six saves, while Zacher made 10 in the opening 15 minutes of the final frame.
Finally, in the 16th minute, freshman forward Giacomo Martino hustled from his own defensive zone to grab the puck in the offensive zone and put a tight-angle shot into the back of the net, sealing the deal for his team.
After two more saves from Zacher, the Huskies came away with the 5-2 victory, marking the team’s second win since December.
“It was good for the group confidence-wise to get a couple big wins in the league,” Keefe said. “The players are settling in and adjusting to this new situation. We’ve got everything we need to be prepared to play and develop the players.”
Northeastern will look to keep the ball rolling against the Merrimack College Warriors (10-12, 4-9 HE) on the road Jan. 22 and 23 with a 7 p.m. puck drop on both days.
