By Craig White
Lowell, MA – The Northeastern Huskies men’s hockey team played their best game all season on Saturday night and came out with a well-earned 4-2 victory. The Huskies went into Saturday night’s tilt versus the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks without a point in Hockey East play. They were able to pick up two big points on the road at the Tsongas Center in Lowell.
Northeastern fell behind just under seven minutes into the first period on a pretty power play goal by Adam Chapie. Christian Folin and Scott Wilson had the assists on the power play tally. The Riverhawks skillful puck movement on their power play was the reason they were able to stay in the hockey game. The Huskies tied the game at one in the latter half of the first period off a quick release from Kevin Roy. Just two minutes later, Mike Szmatula banged home a back door pass from Torin Snydeman past Connor Hellebuyck to give the Huskies the 2-1 advantage heading into the locker room.
The Riverhawks stormed back and got their second PP goal on the night. Derek Arnold scored this one after the freshman Matt Benning took a tripping call in his own defensive zone. The Huskies showed mental toughness once again and did not let the tying goal get them off their game. Dalen Hedges had his second goal of his freshman campaign just a minute-and-a-half later. This goal was also of the rebound fashion as the Huskies did well getting bodies to the net all night.
Clay Witt was solid once again for the Huskies earning his fourth win on the year. He had 32 saves in the effort. After Hedges’ goal the two teams played scoreless hockey for nearly 27 minutes. The Riverhawks had several close opportunities late in the game skating on the power play with an empty net. The Huskies were sound defensively for most of the night and were able to keep them off the board. Lowell had trouble entering the offensive zone cleanly as the Huskies did a good job controlling the gap. Eventually, the senior transfer Torin Snydeman was rewarded with an empty net goal from the neutral zone to seal the game for the Huskies 4-2. Snydeman had his best game of the year and was a force for the Huskies all night long. The Huskies will look to continue their solid play with a home-and-home series against the University of New Hampshire this coming weekend.