By: Josh Brown
BOSTON – After starting the second half of the season with a narrow 3-1 win over AIC and a 3-3 tie against Bentley, the No. 9 Northeastern men’s hockey team was looking for a statement win before heading back into league play next weekend.
The Huskies got just that on Saturday night at Matthews Arena. Behind two goals apiece from Adam Gaudette, Nolan Stevens and Brandon Hawkins, Northeastern (12-5-3) jumped ahead early and never looked back en route to a 6-1 win over Bentley.
The win improves the Huskies to 5-0-2 in their last seven games. The unbeaten streak Is the eighth longest in team history.
Freshman Cayden Primeau got the start in net for Northeastern, making 12 saves on the evening. Senior Jake Theut came in with four minutes left and made one save.
Gaudette got the scoring going at the 10:04 mark of the first period, scoring on an unassisted shorthanded goal. With the Huskies serving a too many men penalty, Gaudette went coast-to-coast and sent a shot on Bentley goalie Aidan Pelino (32 saves). Although he made the initial save, Gaudette tapped the rebound into the back of the net.
Nolan Stevens would score the next two for Northeastern, slotting power play goals at the 14:42 mark of the first period and 7:04 mark of the second. The first goal came via a feed from Sikura in front of the net, and the second was a deflection off a Jeremy Davies shot from the point.
Although the Huskies looked to be in control of the game, Drew Callin scored his fifth goal of the year at 13:53 in the middle frame to bring the Falcons within two. With Biagio Lerario in the penalty box for slashing, Callin patiently corralled a pass from Luke Santerno at the left faceoff dot and sent a shot into the top corner of the net.
That would be as close as Bentley would get. In his fourth game with the red and black, Brandon Hawkins opened the floodgates by scoring his first two goals as a Husky in the opening six minutes of the third period to extend the lead to 5-1.
The redshirt junior scored his first goal after receiving a Grant Jozefek pass in the slot and tapping it into the open net. His second goal came via a bomb from the blue line on a feed from Ryan Shea.
Gaudette would put the cherry on top with his 15th goal of the season at the 13:30 mark. Although Pelino made the initial save on his shot from the left dot, the junior tracked down the rebound and buried it home.
The Huskies will return to Hockey East action next weekend when they host Maine at Matthews Arena for a two-game series. WRBB will have complete coverage of both games.