The new year had treated Northeastern pretty well leading up to Friday night’s game against New Hampshire. After a 2-12-3 start to the season, the team entered the game unbeaten in their last four games — three wins and a tie.
One thing was missing though for the Huskies: a conference win.
Behind two goals from Dylan Sikura, who returned to the lineup after missing two games for Northeastern due to injury, the Huskies were able to get that monkey off their back, defeating New Hampshire, 4-2.
“It was a nice win for our team,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “First league win, but I thought we played well from the beginning to the end of the game. There was some stretches in the game where I didn’t think we had that same level of intensity, but I thought we created some offensive chances for ourselves.”
Wherever New Hampshire (8-9-4, 2-3-4) has played this season, the focus has been on a top line that features Andrew Poturalski (18 goals, 19 assists) and Tyler Kelleher (six goals, 28 assists), the two leading scorers in the nation.
Unfortunately for the Wildcats, they did not prove to be a factor on this night, combining for just one point, a Poturalski assist late in the game after it was securely out of reach.
“They (Northeastern) just out-competed against them,” said New Hampshire coach Dick Umile. “Our effort tonight wasn’t very good. Everybody, obviously starting with our first line, but everybody, it wasn’t very good.”
Northeastern got on the board first midway through the first period on defenseman Garret Cockerill’s fourth goal of the season. A faceoff win found the puck right on the stick of Cockerill, who took a stride to the net and fired a shot that evaded traffic and beat New Hampshire goalie Danny Tirone (31 saves) for the lead.
The Huskies did not let up after gaining the early lead, continuing to dominate time-of-possession and outshooting the Wildcats 12-6 in the period.
Midway through the second, Sikura scored his first of two on the night to put the Huskies up 2-0. Moving the puck in their offensive zone, Mike McMurtry set up freshman Adam Gaudette for a one-timer that Tirone stopped, but Sikura picked up the puck, raced toward the faceoff dot and threw a wrist shot on net that got through a layer of players crashing the net.
“He’s a big presence in our lineup,” said McMurtry. “He’s very offensively gifted, so whenever you can get him going it’s obviously a huge boost for our club. He’s a guy I really like playing with, he sees the ice really well and tonight he just had his legs from the opening period, so when you see guys like that you try to get them the puck as much as possible. He was huge tonight for us.”
Despite carrying the momentum from that point forward, the Wildcats could not find an answer for Northeastern freshman goalie Ryan Ruck (23 saves). Finally, with 2:36 left in the middle frame, they did just that.
Cycling the puck, Shane Eiserman fed Matias Cleland with a pass at the top of the point. The defenseman then put a shot on net that freshman Marcus Vela redirected home.
The third period opened up methodically, with New Hampshire trying to enter the zone and create odd-man rushes, failing to get through the pesky Huskies’ sticks.
Matters got worse for the Wildcats, as Northeastern extended its lead to two.
Midway through the period, with the puck deep in Northeastern’s offensive zone, defenseman Jarrett Fennell found Zach Aston-Reese along on the left side. Aston-Reese then put the puck on the stick of the streaking John Stevens, who quickly one-timed it past Tirone.
Northeastern put the game away 1:24 later courtesy of Sikura’s second of the night. Once again battling along the walls, McMurtry passed it to Sikura in the slot, and the sophomore beat Tirone glove-side.
“We had a conversation the other day about just being more assertive going to the net and shooting it,” said Madigan. “He’s a play-maker, and you can see it; he’s got a real good shot.”
On a power play, New Hampshire got one back with 2:24 left to go, but it was too little, too late. Skating six-on-four, Poturalski, skating along the right faceoff dot, threaded a shot toward net that Vela redirected past Ruck.
“This is a big weekend for us,” said Madigan, “and I talked to our kids about two here tonight, and those are two big points.”
