BOSTON – 24 hours after dominating in the Mullins Center and taking down No. 11 UMass Amherst, the Northeastern Huskies had a motive coming into Saturday’s exhibition game with the Harvard Crimson.
In a chippy, physical affair, the Huskies and Crimson battled in what felt like a regular season game. While the results will not count in standings, it raises questions if the Huskies are ready to face a difficult fall schedule.
The first period started off strong with both the Huskies and Crimson showcasing their teams’ speed.
Just three minutes into the game, Northeastern found themselves on the board, with passes connecting between freshman defender Dylan Compton and sophomore forward Griffin Erdman. Erdman found the stick of freshman forward Amine Hajibi, who capitalized on his own rebound, burying it glove-side past Crimson sophomore goaltender Ben Charette to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
Fired up, Harvard answered, as the Crimson got their first power play opportunity when Tyler Fukakusa — a junior transfer from RIT, who has been a powerful candidate for the Huskies — was sent to the box for holding. Northeastern sophomore netminder Quentin Sigurdson stood tall, as Harvard struggled to find the net on the man advantage. Their power play failed to convert against the Huskies penalty kill.
That did not stop the Crimson for long, as sophomore forward Mick Thompson, their team’s leading goal scorer last season, broke through from the blue line, beating Sigurdson and finding the back of the net to tie the game at one apiece. With nine minutes left in the period, Harvard’s momentum was interrupted when sophomore forward Justin Solovey got called for a slashing penalty on sophomore defender Jack Henry. The Huskies struggled to establish zone time, falling short on their power play.
Heading into the second period, both teams picked up the pace with the Crimson matching Northeastern’s quickness. An evenly matched start of back-and-forth battle between the two teams resulted in few quality chances. Then, 11 minutes in, Northeastern struck, with Dylan Hryckowian breaking the tie, sniping one over the glove of Charette with assists from senior defender Jo Lemay and freshman center Jack Pechar.
With the Huskies holding the lead, the momentum heightened with just five minutes left in the period. Junior forward Andy Moore took a two-minute minor for contact to the head on Harvard’s junior forward Salvatore Guzzo, giving the Crimson a power play opportunity. The Huskies’ penalty kill was able to sustain, preserving their 2-1 lead going into the final period.
While both teams played an evenly-matched game, Harvard found themselves taking advantage of the Huskies’ inability to execute offensively, seizing control.
Early in the third period, Northeastern junior forward Dylan Hryckowian took a two-minute penalty for roughing, but the Huskies penalty kill remained strong. Harvard’s pressure remained relentless. As Pechar tried to glove down a puck sailing high, junior forward Cameron Johnson jumped in on the loose puck and fired it past Sigurdson, tying the game at two.
With three minutes remaining, senior forward Phillip Tresca gave Harvard its first lead of the night, finding the net from the attacking zone, past Northeastern’s freshman goaltender Matthew DellaRusso, making his season debut for the Huskies. It wasn’t long after when Northeastern pulled the netminder and Tresca sealed the deal with an empty netter with four seconds remaining in the game to score his second of the night. The game didn’t just end there; with less than half a second remaining, Solovey got called for unsportsmanlike conduct, but the Huskies ran out of time, leaving the final score 4-2 in favor of Harvard.
While the results may not appear on the official books, Northeastern’s team still has work to do in this young season if they want to build on Friday’s breakthrough and consistetly compete in Hockey East.
The Huskies will be back in action, as they host Denver next Saturday, October 25. Puck drop is set to be at 7 PM. WRBB will have a live broadcast on Sports+.
Isabelle Chardavoyne is a second-year student at Northeastern University. She is an aspiring journalist and broadcaster for WRBB.