Northeastern men’s hockey (15-17-1, 10-13-0 HE) ended its last weekend series of the season in back-to-back losses to the No. 20 University of Maine Black Bears (18-12-3, 12-10-1 HE) 4-0 and 3-2 Feb. 27 and 28, respectively.
In the Feb. 27 game, penalties were the killer for Northeastern as two of Maine’s goals came on the power play. Despite having only one fewer penalty than the Huskies, the Black Bears killed every power play and even secured a shorthanded goal. One small bright spot for the Huskies was having junior forward Dylan Hryckowian back in the lineup — he hasn’t played since the Beanpot semifinal due to an injury.
The first period was free of penalties, but the first goal scored 11 minutes in. Maine’s senior forward Owen Fowler grabbed the puck from behind the net, skated around and hooked the puck over junior goaltender Lawton Zacher’s shoulder to put the Black Bears up 1-0.
In the second period, Maine’s freshman forward Will Gerrior took the first penalty of the night for cross-checking just over five minutes in. With the Huskies on the power play, senior defenseman Austen May tried to pass the puck to fellow defenseman freshman Dylan Compton near the blue line, but Compton failed to gain control of the puck. Fowler read the pass and snatched the puck, taking it up the ice in a wide-open breakaway and shooting it to the right of Zacher to double the Black Bears’ lead. The Huskies did not get a single shot off on the power play.
Just over 10 minutes into the second period, Northeastern had its first player sent to the sin bin: junior forward Matthew Perkins for face masking. Things only got worse for the Huskies when, 36 seconds later, senior defenseman Dylan Finlay and junior forward Eli Sebastian took penalties for tripping and handling the puck, respectively, putting the Black Bears on a 5-on-3 advantage.
With just over 11 minutes off the clock and over a minute on the power play gone in the second period, Maine’s freshman forward Miguel Marques passed the puck from the faceoff zone to the middle of the ice to senior defenseman Brandon Holt, who shot the one-timer straight to the back of the net.
A minute and 20 seconds later, the Black Bears struck again as the power play wound down. Maine’s freshman goaltender Mathis Rousseau sent the puck down the ice to Marques as the Huskies were in the middle of a line change. Marques passed to junior forward Josh Nadeau to send it in. Nadeau’s shot hit off junior forward Andy Moore’s stick as he laid out to stop the shot in a last-ditch effort, but the puck bounced up into the air and into the goal, putting Maine ahead 4-0.
Northeastern earned another power play in the end of the second period and the end of the third, but the deficit was too much to come back from.
On Feb. 28, the Huskies hoped to redeem themselves in their first “home” game since Feb. 6 and the last one of the season, but Maine outplayed them.
The Huskies were first on the board with a goal by sophomore forward Joe Connor nine minutes into the game. Hryckowian dished the puck to junior forward Tyler Fukakusa, who sent it across the ice to Connor. Connor sent a one-timer over Rousseau to put the Huskies ahead 1-0 in what was Northeastern’s only shot on goal for the entire period.
With just over five and a half minutes to go, senior defenseman and captain Vinny Borgesi took a major penalty for cross-checking, sending Maine on a five-minute power play. Luckily for Northeastern, the Black Bears were unable to capitalize as Zacher notched five saves and Sebastian and Moore blocked a shot each.
In the second period, Northeastern’s defense allowed the Black Bears to score three goals while Maine held Northeastern to none.
A minute and a half in, Maine’s junior defenseman Frank Djurasevic took a long shot from behind the faceoff circle that found its way into the back of the net, tying the game at one.
Less than three minutes later, Djurasevic did the exact same thing from the outside of the other faceoff circle, handing the Black Bears the lead.
Northeastern earned two power plays in the second period but failed to find the back of the net. Maine, however, tallied another goal 14 minutes in off a shot by junior forward Sully Scholle.
The clock continued to wind down with neither team adding to their lead until there was less than 13 minutes to go. On the transition, freshman forward Giacomo Martino handed the puck off to Connor. Connor dished it back to him, and Martino sent the puck into the bottom right of the net.
The Huskies failed to ride the momentum the rest of the way despite taking 14 more shots.
Northeastern will be back in action against the Boston College Eagles (19-12-1, 13-9-0 HE) for its final regular season game of the 2025-2026 campaign March 7 at 7 p.m. in Chestnut Hill.
