HAMDEN, Conn. — In the lead up to Saturday’s road tilt against No. 17 Quinnipiac, Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe relayed a simple message to his struggling group.
“We talked about that it’s a new year,” Keefe said. “The 2025 version of the Huskies.”
If Saturday’s performance was any indication, the 2025 Huskies may have something worth building on.
Powered by Dylan Hryckowian’s first-career hat trick, a stellar 35-save performance from Cameron Whitehead, and consistent 60-minute effort up and down the lineup, Northeastern stunned the near-capacity crowd at M&T Bank Arena with a 5-1 statement victory over the Bobcats.
The win improved Northeastern’s record to 6-9-3, and their Pairwise climbed six spots to No. 24 — higher than the Huskies stood on either Jan. 4, 2024 (No. 25) or Jan. 4, 2023 (No. 44), after which both teams went on dramatic surges in the second semester.
“It’s a great feeling, getting a big win tonight,” Hryckowian said. “It’s starting to get those flashbacks a little bit from last year and seeing all the same things and expecting great things going forward from this team. And I believe we can go really far.”
Quinnipiac entered Saturday having won seven of their last eight games, and while they are not the biggest team, the Bobcats are speedy, crafty, and challenging to crack in the neutral zone. Quinnipiac ultimately won the shot battle 36-32, but Northeastern had a number of key blocks, deflections, and good sticks in front of Whitehead’s net which limited high-danger rebound chances.
And perhaps most importantly, Whitehead responded from the roughest five-game stretch of his college career with arguably his best performance of the season. After yielding a .863 SV% in his past five games and getting pulled twice after letting in goals on routine saves, Whitehead stopped 35 of 36 shots on Saturday, with his lone blemish coming on a Chris Pelosi power play goal in third period garbage time.
“That was Whitey,” Keefe said. “That’s what he’s capable of doing. And in college hockey, you need a stud net to win, and we feel like we have a stud in net. So obviously, that’s a really good start to the new year for him, and we’re looking for him to just keep building on that game.”
With their goaltender backing them up, Northeastern came out sharp and detailed from the opening minutes and never let their foot off the gas — a rarity for a team whose achilles heel all season has been stringing together three good periods in a row.
The Huskies killed off two Quinnipiac power plays in the first period, while getting some of their own Grade-A transition looks from Cam Lund, Nick Rheume, and Joe Connor — and while none turned into goals, the Huskies continued to execute on zone entries and win loose pucks in the neutral zone.
“We keep talking about playing good hockey, but not doing it over 60 minutes,” Keefe said. “Tonight, I thought our start was great, I thought Whitey gave us a good opportunity on the road. We also had some chances in the first period that we didn’t bury. So we were getting some looks and knew we were right there.”
Finally, after killing off the Bobcats‘ third power play of the game midway through the second period, Ryan McGuire came out of the penalty box unguarded and received a home run pass from Jackson Dorrington — who had been on the ice for the entire two-minute penalty kill — and buried a 1-on-0 backhand with 9:12 remaining in the second frame.
Then, just two minutes later, the Huskies doubled their lead on a beautiful tic-tac-toe sequence from the Huskies’ top line, with Cam Lund finding Hryckowian from the right circle to bury the one-timer.
It was the first of Hryckowian’s three even-strength goals, all set up as the result of great synchronization with the top line of Williams, Lund, and Hryckowian. The veteran trio has played together eight times this season, including each of the past three games since the break. And after spending much of the first semester tinkering with the forward lines game after game, the Huskies may have found something by simply sticking their top three forwards together and allowing them to gel.
“We’ve been together for a while now, so the practice definitely helps together,” Hryckowian said. “And we also all get along so well off the ice, and I think that chemistry stems from there. We’re all good players, so we’ve been making plays.”
While Saturday was Northeastern’s sixth victory of the season, they did not leave the rink feeling overly positive after any of the last three: In their 3-1 victory over Bentley on Dec. 1, the Huskies were outshot 27-6 over the final two periods; against Brown on Dec. 7, Northeastern led 4-0 before Brown scored three goals in four minutes to make it 4-3; and facing a bottom-10 Alaska Anchorage squad last week, it took Dylan Hryckowian’s tying goal in the closing minute of regulation and Cam Lund’s overtime winner to survive.
While it is important for Northeastern to take things one game at a time and keep things in perspective after just one victory, it is also important that the Huskies see their process translate into legitimate wins against good opponents.
“It feels like all our games have been up and down. We haven’t been able to complete a great 60 minute game,” Hryckowian said. “And I thought we did that tonight.”
The Huskies now head into a lighter portion of their Hockey East schedule, with their next five games coming against UMass, Vermont, and Merrimack — three of the other four teams at the bottom of the league standings.
And were Northeastern to sweep UMass next weekend, they would shoot up all the way to No. 16 in Pairwise, right on the NCAA Tournament bubble. Perhaps it’s foolish to look ahead given this team’s notable lack of consistency over the first 18 games, but it’s also an important reminder that this season is not over — though granted, some of those other teams may see Northeastern on the upcoming docket and similarly smell opportunity.
Saturday’s win may foreshadow another second-semester surge for Northeastern, or it may be a blip before reality strikes next weekend when Hockey East play resumes. But one thing is for certain: Without Whitehead playing like a top goalie in Hockey East and the Huskies stringing together three consistent periods of play against quality opposition, no season turnaround is possible.
“It’s definitely a step in the right direction,” Keefe said. “Now, we have to build on it.”
The Huskies return to Hockey East action on Friday against UMass at Matthews Arena. Luke Graham, Zeno Minotti, and Armaan Vij will have the call on WRBB 104.9 FM.