AMHERST – There have been moments that have been disappointing. There have been moments that have felt like if one or two things went their way the results would be different, and, of course, there have been many moments that have just been flat out bad. And for Friday night’s 5-0 defeat to UMass, it stands out as the most miserable of moments in a 2024/25 season that has progressively trended towards a major disappointment for the Northeastern Men’s Hockey program.
However, the only way to climb out of the hole is to bounce back, and following the disheartening loss on Friday, the Huskies dug deep and found a way to grind out a 3-0 victory in Amherst. Having not found a victory at the Mullins Center since 2017, the Huskies have spent the better half of a decade taking a disappointed bus ride back to Boston after games with UMass. Saturday was not that kind of day.
Unlike the wreck that was Friday’s matchup at Matthews Arena, on Saturday, the Huskies hit the ice running and looked like a team that was inspired, desperate, and ready to go. Rightfully so, given that Northeastern entered Saturday’s matchup with just one Hockey East win resulting in second-to-last placement in the conference standings and a No. 24 ranking nationally. It seemed the Huskies knew as a team that needed a win; the urgency was clear from the opening puck drop.
After a sequence of continuous strong offensive shifts for the Huskies to open the first period, the first line stormed into the offensive zone on a collective sequence of beautiful passing from Hryckowian to Lund back to Hryckowian, who dropped it of for Vinny Borgesi who ripped it bar-down over the glove side shoulder of UMass goalie Michael Hrabal.
The score was Borgesi’s third of the year, and opened the scoring with just under 10 minutes to go in the first period. Lund, Hryckowian, and Borgesi – the three shining stars in a largely disappointing season for the Huskies – continue to actively carry Northeastern to victories.
The second period continued the back-and-forth trend. However, at the 18:52 mark Jake Boltman ripped a shot off the mask of Hrabal sending the rebound right back to his stick — and this time Boltman would not be denied, beating Hrabal top shelf to extend the Husky lead to two. For Boltman, it was his first goal as a Husky, but despite not finding the back of the net prior to Saturday, Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe has been very happy with Boltman’s offensive contributions this year despite his reputation as a defensive defenseman.
“[Boltman has] been one of our most consistent players all year. You know what you’re going to get out of him: he plays the game the right way, he plays it hard, he’s a smart kid, and he’s an intelligent player,” Keefe said. “He’s got more offense than you’ve probably given him credit for.”
It’s promising to see Northeastern receive a larger contribution from defensemen, considering goal-scoring from the points has been hard to come by for the Huskies this year.
The largest plus for the Huskies on Saturday was the play of their goaltender Cameron Whitehead. The sophomore netminder turned aside all 35 shots he faced and had to make some very challenging saves to register his first shutout of the season. Minus Friday’s loss, Whitehead has begun 2025 very well after an up-and-down first half of the season.
In the three games since the calendar flipped, Whitehead has accumulated a 2-1 record with a 1.68 GAA and a .947 SVP, strong numbers for the sophomore who will be key if the Huskies hope to somehow play themselves into national tournament contention. Maybe Cameron has finally read one of my articles or heard some of my criticisms of his game this year. Jokes aside, Saturday Whitehead stood out and bounced back strong from Friday’s loss.
“I thought [Whitehead] was on the top of his game. To be honest, when your goaltender is playing that well, it’s going to be tough to beat…Tonight, Whitey was the big difference in the game,” Keefe said.
In line with Whitehead’s strong play, the defense got the message and came out ready to play hard-nosed hockey in their own end.
“We were harder at our net front, we didn’t give up any easy goals off the rush…I thought we were [just] harder,” Keefe said about the team’s play in the defensive zone.
Overall, the Huskies found a way to reset, bounce back, and lean on defense and goaltending to grind out the 3-0 victory in Amherst, snapping an eight-year losing streak at UMass. One win is not enough to declare a turning point in a season, but Saturday’s win shows the heart this team plays with even when they have been counted out by so many – myself included.
Moreover, the win marks the Huskies second win in Hockey East play for them. For Husky fans, the weekend may be dampened due to the embarrassing Friday loss in front of a rocking home crowd, but what fans can hold for hope is that this team has the ability to grind out wins when they need to. That being said, it is time for them to treasure every game because of the position they have played themselves into.
“It was all about the response,” Hryckowian said. “I think especially after having a great crowd yesterday, we were really disappointed with our effort. We were a desperate group today, and I thought we showed out.”
What this weekend does the most is put significant pressure on the next few Hockey East games they will play. Upcoming is Vermont, a team that is not on top of Hockey East, and following that is a game with Merrimack – who the Huskies lost to but also is near the bottom of the league standings.
Because of Saturday’s win the Huskies have kept their season barely alive, and it will all rely on those three games. Given their current pairwise ranking at No. 22, Northeastern is in the position where they essentially have to win out in the next three games to boost their ranking up to No. 18 and not far from the tournament bubble.
Moral of the story: I was ready to give up on Northeastern’s season after Friday, now after Saturday, I still want to, but there remains a chance for this team to play themselves into some potential success — but it all will come down to the next two weeks to save the season.
The Huskies will return to the ice on Friday, Jan. 17 in Burlington, Vermont, to begin a two-game road-series against the Catamounts of the University of Vermont. Matty Wasserman and Daisy Roberts will be on the broadcast on WRBB 104.9FM beginning at 7pm from Burlington.