BOSTON, MA – In their final contest before the Beanpot on Monday, the Northeastern men’s hockey team was defeated by the UMass Lowell Riverhawks, 3-1.
The first period would come and go without either team scoring a goal. Neither team found the back of the net and there were no power play chances between the two teams. The Huskies were able to get a few high-danger scoring chances, particularly some shots on goal from right in front of the crease from junior forward Matt Filipe. The Riverhawks tallied 19 total shot attempts, putting nine on sophomore goaltender Cayden Primeau.
In the middle frame scoring finally opened up with a power play tally for the Riverhawks. Junior forward Kenny Hausinger notched his ninth goal of the season tipping home a drive from outside the slot to beat Cayden Primeau. Northeastern would go on the power play twice in the second period and managed five shots on junior goaltender Tyler Wall; none of them would beat the Ontario native as his reflexes were up to the task of fighting off sophomore forward Zach Solow and senior forward Brandon Hawkins.
Northeastern would net its only goal of the evening at 8:24 of the 3rd period. Junior defenseman Jeremy Davies ripped two booming shots from high in the slot, both of which deflected off Lowell skaters. The second rebound came to Brandon Hawkins, who rifled a shot past Wall who was screened skillfully by Solow.
Later in the third period, junior defenseman Mattias Goransson shot the puck towards the net and Primeau was able to make the initial save. The rebound found its way onto the stick of junior forward Ryan Lohin, who tallied his tenth goal of the season to put the Riverhawks up permanently.
An empty netter from Reid Stefanson at 19:36 of the third would ice the game and send the fans to their cars. The Huskies dropped to fourth in the Hockey East standing Lowell has now found themselves at third in the conference. Four points continue to separate the #2 and #7 seeds in the conference playoffs.
Northeastern will be back in action on Monday, February 4, at 8pm when they face Boston University in the first round of the Beanpot. WRBB will have full coverage at 7:45pm. Joe Barbito, Patrick Milne and Christian Skroce will be on the call.