This weekend was the matchup of the Huskies between UConn and Northeastern. The home-and home-series started on the road for the UConn men’s hockey team at Northeastern in Boston, Mass. In the series opener on Friday evening, UConn defeated Northeastern by a final of 4-3 at Matthews Arena.
Connecticut got off to a hot start in the first period to get the early lead. Senior Nick Capone used a screen and fired a shot past the Northeastern goaltender just two minutes into the game. The scoring did not end there for UConn as sophomores Matthew Wood and Ryan Tattle connected on a give and go which ended in another goal for the Huskies. Wood hit a diving goal to give UConn the two goal lead heading into the first period break.
Wood struck again early in the second period. He found himself in the front of the net for the rebound goal. This gave UConn the 3-0 lead in the second frame. However, Northeastern responded and fired back, scoring two goals to cut UConn’s lead to one. Northeastern scored their first goal off of a power play,then with one minute remaining in the period, they scored their second goal of the night with a tip on shot.
Halfway through the third period, Northeastern found the equalizer goal as sophomore Vinny Borgesi fired a puck past sophomore goaltender Arsenii Sergeev. Following the game-tying goal, UConn did not quit the fight as Tattle and Wood connected for the second time of the game, also giving Wood his third goal of the night. With five minutes left in the game, UConn gained a 4-3 lead over Northeastern. UConn committed a penalty with one minute remaining in the game which resulted in Northeastern pulling their goalie in favor of a two-man advantage. Despite having the two-man advantage, Northeastern was unable to find the back of the net late in the game as UConn’s penalty kill dominated which led them to seasling the game.
UConn closed out the 4-3 win at Northeastern. Wood scored a hat trick and Tattle finished with three assists in the victory Friday night.
The Huskies then made their way back down to Storrs, CT, to wrap up the series with Northeastern. It was senior night at Toscano Family Ice Forum and the Huskies celebrated their eight seniors; Andrew Lucas, John Spetz, Hudson Schandor, Ethan Haider, Harrison Rees, Jake Flynn, Nick Capone and Matt Pasquale. As for the game, the Huskies fell to Northeastern with a final of 4-2 on Saturday night. Sophomore Samu Salminen and freshman Oliver Flynn were the goal scorers for the night for UConn.
In the first period, Northeastern jumped out to a 2-0 lead and the Huskies were quickly behind. Northeastern opened the scoring nine minutes into the game as freshman Dylan Hryckowian gathered the loose puck in front of the net and scored. Just a minute later, Northeastern doubled their lead off of a power play goal. Before the period break, UConn did have a scoring opportunity to cut the lead to one but the puck died before crossing the goal line. The Huskies entered the period break down by two goals.
Northeastern stayed on a roll in the second period and increased their lead to three. Graduate student Liam Walsh was able to beat out goaltender Haider to score a goal. The Huskies then started scoring after Wood left the puck for Salminen who launched it past Northeastern’s goaltender Cameron Whitehead. UConn went into the period break trailing by a score of 3-1.
Just one minute into the beginning of the third period, Northeastern re-captured their three-goal lead and held onto it. With one minute left in the game, Oliver Flynn scored his first career goal as a Husky, but the clock ran out and Northeastern sealed the 4-2 over UConn.
The battle of the Huskies ended in a tie. UConn splitting the series with Northeastern made their record 13-18-2 overall and 8-14-1 in Hockey East action. The Huskies will wrap up the regular season with a single-game against Vermont on Thursday, March 7 at Toscano Family Ice Forum in Storrs, CT. Puck drop is set for 7:00 p.m. and will be available to stream live on ESPN+.