By: Dan McLoone
BOSTON – The high-scoring offense wasn’t firing on all cylinders on Friday night for No. 12 Northeastern, but the Huskies were able to produce just enough goals to earn a 2-1 comeback win over Vermont at Matthews Arena.
Freshman Alex Esposito opened the scoring 1:14 into the first period for the Catamounts (3-8-1, 1-4-1 Hockey East), corralling a rebound in the crease off of a Derek Lodermeier shot and sending it home for his first career goal.
The Huskies (7-3-1, 5-1-0 HE) had numerous chances to tie it, but were unable to capitalize on two power play opportunities and rang post four times on the evening. Dylan Sikura and Garrett Cockerill both returned to the lineup to boost the offense, but Vermont netminder Stefanos Lekkas (25 saves) made the Huskies work for goals all night.
With 9:10 left in the third, the Huskies offense finally broke through. Matt Filipe got a stick on a shot from Ryan Shea along the blue line and deflected it past Stefanos Lekkas to tie the score.
NU kept up the persistent offensive pressure down the stretch and were finally rewarded. Dylan Sikura led Jeremy Davies with an entry pass into the offensive zone, and Davies skated in from the right side before slotting a shot into the bottom right corner of the net with 2:12 left to give the Huskies a 2-1 lead. The defense stood strong down the stretch, as freshman netminder Cayden Primeau made 20 saves on the night to preserve the win.
With the win, the Huskies move snap a five-game winless streak against Vermont and move to 5-1 in Hockey East play for the first time since 1985. They will look to continue the strong start when Boston College visits Matthews Arena on Saturday night. Puck drop is scheduled for 7 p.m. with coverage beginning on 6:45 p.m. on WRBB.
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