BOSTON – A night for Northeastern that started off on a high, with a 3-0 lead against UConn, quickly turned into a nightmare. By the end of the night, they found themselves giving up a game-winning breakaway goal off the stick of Joey Muldowney, as UConn came out on top 4-3 in overtime to finish off a weekend sweep at Matthews Arena for the second straight season.
Muldowney’s status for the game was not a certainty heading into the day, as he’d been recovering from an injury and had not played in the previous night’s matchup at Toscano Family Ice Forum. His insertion back into the lineup was only one of the hurdles Northeastern had to face heading into the second game of the home and home series, as they were also without stud senior defenseman Joaquim Lemay and junior center Matthew Perkins, as both players suffered injuries the previous night.
Despite all these obstacles, Northeastern started off strong. Although both teams saw their fair share of opportunities in the first period, the home side did a better job capitalizing on them than UConn did. They opened the scoring with a shot from the point by freshman defenseman Dylan Compton, who tallied his second goal of his NCAA career, with the first coming the previous night.
Compton’s goal came only 39 seconds after Northeastern had finished killing a hooking penalty by freshman forward Jacob Mathieu. The goal was a result of a sustained offensive zone sequence, which was saved by the efforts of a diving Vinny Borgesi, who just stopped the puck from rolling past the blue line.
Northeastern had a chance to add to their lead towards the end of the first period, as Jake Richard was called for tripping. That they did, as freshman forward Giacomo Martino capitalized on a rebound off a shot by Joe Connor, putting the Huskies up 2-0 with just 10 seconds left in the first period.
Northeastern’s fortune carried into the early minutes of the second frame. As senior defenseman Tom Messineo was looking to break the puck out of UConn’s end, his pass to Joey Muldowney was intercepted by Griffin Erdman, who opportunistically fired a shot and found the back of the net to give Northeastern a 3-0 lead.
At this point, it had seemed as though Northeastern was running away with this game, and the energy in Matthews Arena reflected that feeling for many fans. Unfortunately for them, this was the last positive sign they would see all night.
After killing a tripping penalty on Noah Jones, Northeastern found themselves right back on the kill when junior forward Eli Sebastian was called for a high sticking minor. Less than a minute later, UConn found the back of the net when a shot from Kaden Shahan was tipped up in front by Ethan Gardula. This is where the momentum started to swing in UConn’s favor.
UConn capitalized on Husky errors once again when Vinny Borgesi made an uncharacteristic mistake, and his attempt at a breakout pass was intercepted by senior forward Ryan Tattle. Tattle proceeded to find Kaden Shahan for a howitzer, which found the back of the net, leaving Northeastern with a slim 3-2 lead in the late frame of the second period.
After another rush by UConn gave them an opportunity to tie the game, Jerry Keefe called a timeout with 4:37 left in the period. It was enough for Northeastern to hold off any more goals from UConn for the rest of the frame.
Before the second period came to a close, Northeastern went back on the power play after Ryan Tattle was called for interference. However Northeastern was only able to get two shots on goal before time expired. Northeastern was outshot 15-4 in the second period, after splitting the same shot total with UConn in the first period.
Northeastern still had 23 seconds left on the power play heading into the third period; however, they were only able to get a single shot on net before Ryan Tattle came out of the box to bring the teams to even strength once again.
Early in the third period, the game seemed to look more even, as both teams exchanged some quality rushes. However, UConn was still looking like the stronger team overall.
A penalty for too many men on the ice against UConn sent Northeastern on their third power play of the night. However, UConn’s aggressive approach on the penalty kill prevailed, as they killed off the penalty and generated multiple scoring opportunities for themselves.
Northeastern was able to create some opportunities for themselves in the middle of the third period, but overall, UConn was winning the possession battle. As the period wore on, Northeastern started to look as if they were just trying to protect their lead.
Their efforts fell short, as UConn found themselves with an extra attacker late in the third period due to a delayed penalty. Before Northeastern could gain possession back, junior defenseman Viking Gustafsson Nyberg connected on a pass to senior forward Jake Percival, who tapped the puck in to tie the game 3-3 with 4:49 left in regulation.
UConn challenged to see if the delayed penalty could be upgraded to a major, but it remained a two-minute infraction, leaving the final frame to be played at even strength. Despite multiple pushes from UConn in the final five minutes, Northeastern was able to survive until the end of the third period, which meant that this matchup was headed to overtime.
Northeastern struggled to find chances early in the 3-on-3 frame, and it seemed as though UConn was the only team generating any rushes, including a drive to the net by Percival that nearly put the game away. However Northeastern was able to generate a sustained offensive zone presence with a grouping of Fukakusa, Hajibi, and May on the ice.
Unfortunately for Northeastern, they would also be the last players to see the ice for the night. As Tyler Fukakusa possessed the puck at the blue line, he blew a tire, leaving the puck for a UConn player with a clear breakaway.
Northeastern couldn’t have had worse luck,as rushing down the ice was Joey Muldowney, the team’s star forward, who seized the puck and took off towards Lawton Zacher’s net. In his first game back from injury, the returning Muldowney, drove towards Zacher, deked, and completed the comeback for UConn with an overtime winner.
Northeastern’s loss highlights the struggles that they have had against UConn in recent matchups, especially in Matthews Arena. As it stands, UConn’s final game in Matthews Arena will go down as a win for them, making this the second year in a row that they have swept a weekend series against Northeastern.
“We shot ourselves in the foot all weekend,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe after the game, “ I just thought we gave them way too many easy opportunities.” Keefe also expressed frustration with the penalties that Northeastern took in the second period.
When asked what he can take away from the series heading into next weekend when the Huskies face Boston University, Keefe said, “We’ve got some work to do. We were in position all weekend to get points, and we need to close the game out better [than] tonight, and we gotta make sure we’re managing the puck and managing situations better. Simple as that.”
Northeastern will be at Matthews Arena once again on Friday, November 21, for the first of a home-and-home series against Boston University. Puck Drop is set for 7 p.m., with a live broadcast on WRBB Sports.
Kabir Singh is a second-year student at Northeastern University. He is a hockey writer and broadcaster for WRBB Sports.