HANOVER, N.H. – It was not pretty, but in the end, Northeastern were able to close out 2024 on a high note with a victory over Anchorage Alaska to complete their run at the Ledyard Bank Classic. Guided by some of their stars delivering clutch goals in the game’s final minutes, the Huskies defeated the Sea Wolves 4-3 in the tournament consolation game.
After a disappointing 3-1 loss in a non-conference matchup versus Hockey East rival No. 7 Providence on Saturday afternoon, Northeastern returned to the ice to face Anchorage – a team they had only played twice in program history, the last time coming in 2008.
Saturday’s loss brought concern, as the Huskies suffered similarly in many of their defeats prior to the Christmas break. A feeling confirmed by their head coach following the Sunday contest.
“I do think the way we lost last night was pretty similar to how our seasons [has] been going all year,” said Jerry Keefe. “Where you come out, you play a good 20 minutes and then you make a mistake, and you’re chasing the game 20 to 40 seconds into the second [period], and it feels like it’s a mountain to come back when you’re not scoring goals.”
On Sunday, the Huskies found themselves chasing the Seawolves on the scoreboard for most of the night; in fact, they did not hold a lead at any point during the contest. However, despite often trailing by a goal, it did not feel like they were necessarily fighting an uphill battle. For much of the game, it appeared that Northeastern was the better team, as they dictated pace-of-play and puck possession.
What almost killed the Huskies, however, were very untimely and “soft” goals let in by sophomore netminder Cameron Whitehead — namely Dylan Finlay’s goal that squeaked by Whitehead to open the scoring at the end of the first period.
“I didn’t like the first goal at all….We’ve given up a few first goals lately, that [Whitehead] is better than those,” Keefe said. “I thought our first period was really good, and we were playing really well at that point. Then to give up a soft goal like that….We’re a fragile group right now, struggling to win hockey games, and [it] just can’t happen.”
This was another of many goals in the last few weeks that somehow got by Whitehead which really had no business finding the back of the net. After pulling Whitehead following the first score, Keefe went on to say that the plan was to leave backup goaltender Quentin Sigurdson for the remainder of the game – but Whitehead approached Keefe taking ownership for the goal and asked to be put back into the net to redeem himself.
“[It] shows the type of kid he is,” Keefe said.
After the sophomore regained the pipes in the second period, Keefe was happy with the way Whitehead played, stopping 17 of the 19 shots he faced in the second and third periods – overall he turned aside 21 of 24. One could argue, and anyone who has read anything else I have written about Whitehead in the past know I will, that the second goal he let up on a shot from Gunnar VanDamme at 16:21 into the second period that beat him clean over the glove was also perhaps soft as well.
However, the Huskies found enough their goal scoring from their stars – a good sign considering the skaters that scored will be the reason why they turn this season around if they are able to do so. The Huskies got their first goal on a scorching shot from the blue line by Vinny Borgesi just 1:27 into the second period to tie it at one.
Later, the Huskies found a goal on the powerplay – a rare occurrence – on a beautiful tip from Joe Connor off a Borgesi shot. The freshman snapped his cold streak, with his first goal since Nov. 9 vs. Providence, and his first point since Nov. 23 against BC.
Connor is one of the players the Huskies have wanted to see more from, and while he has been good in flashes, he has not been as electric or productive as Northeastern had hoped. For their sake, one can hope that this goal will be the spark he needs to get going offensively, and be more than just a penalty waiting to happen – he took his 14th penalty again on Sunday, and is now tied for 6th in the NCAA in penalty minutes with 39.
Redirections benefitted the Huskies a few times on Sunday – also a rare occurrence – as Dylan Hryckowian tied the game at 3-3 with only 1:10 to go in the third period off a redirection that beat Anchorage’s freshman goaltender Tyler Krivstov through the five-hole to force overtime. When the Huskies need a clutch goal, who better than a Hryckowian to get it done?
Maybe Lund? Well yes, because he came up in the clutch in overtime when he was sprung loose on a breakaway off a pass from Jack Williams, and with the way Lund has played to this point in the year, everyone in the building knew it was over even before the puck hit the twine.
For Lund, it was his ninth goal (tied for 17th in the nation) and 20th point (tied for 13th in the nation) of a Hobey Baker candidacy season run for the junior – he is currently 5th in College Hockey News’ CHIP statistic nationally.
With the overtime victory Northeastern improves to a record of 5-9-3 and could use this win as a potential stepping stone to redirect the course of a floundering season. The Huskies will return to the ice on Jan. 4 at Quinnipiac. Zach Lyons and Matty Wasserman will have live coverage from Hamden on 104.9 FM. Puck drop is scheduled for 4 p.m.