BOSTON — Senior Night at Matthews Arena delivered the result Northeastern’s departing players deserved. Behind contributions from their veteran leaders, the No. 11 Huskies sent their seniors off with a convincing 4-1 victory over Brown Saturday evening.
Before the puck dropped, Northeastern honored its five seniors who have been an asset to the team’s success this season: forward Anthony Messuri, and defenders Austen May, Dylan Finlay, assistant captain Joaquim Lemay, and captain Vinny Borgesi.
Once the puck dropped, the Huskies wasted no time getting on the board.
Five minutes into the first period, freshman Amine Hajibi broke through on the forecheck. The puck found his stick off feeds from sophomore Griffin Erdman and junior Dylan Hryckowian before he fired glove side, top corner past Brown’s goaltender Fred Halyk.
The Huskies did not let Brown catch their breath. Just 40 seconds later, sophomore Joe Connor doubled the lead, capitalizing on a rebound off of Halyk’s pads from a shot by junior Tyler Fukakusa.
“The line by Hryckowian was really good, and I thought the Fukakusa line was dangerous all night … I thought Joe Connor had his best game in a long time,” said Northeastern head coach Jerry Keefe.
The early two-goal burst gave the Huskies a commanding lead. With 15 minutes remaining, Brown sophomore forward Ben Poitras, a former Husky, found himself in the penalty box after delivering a cross check to Finlay, giving the Huskies their first power play opportunity.
Northeastern managed just one shot with the extra skater and couldn’t capitalize against Brown’s struggling penalty kill, which ranks ninth in the ECAC at 76.5%.
The parade to the penalty box continued. Brown defender Matt Desiderio was called for hooking, putting the Huskies back on the man advantage. Rather than extending their lead, the Huskies nullified their own advantage when Connor was whistled for goaltender interference, evening play at 4-on-4.
Huskies goaltender Quentin Sigurdson stood tall, denying Brown’s best chances. Sigurdson, who has started for Northeastern in the past three games in the absence of usual starter Lawton Zacher, holds a .936 save percentage through that stint and continues the Huskies’ dominance between the pipes.
With the sophomore in net, the momentum from the earlier goals started to fade, and the rest of the period belonged to neither team. Breakout passes failed to connect for the Huskies, and choppy play in the neutral zone prevented Brown from generating any sustained pressure. Despite the offensive struggles, Northeastern held its 2-0 advantage going into the second period.
The second period saw the Huskies regain control. Within the first five minutes of the frame, Hryckowian, Northeastern’s top scorer this season, buried one from in front of the net, crashing in to tip in Hajibi’s feed.
As the period wore on, penalties began to disrupt the two teams’ flow once more. Just a minute after Hryckowian’s goal, captain Borgesi was sent to the box for tripping. Northeastern’s penalty kill, ranked ninth in the NCAA at 87.2%, remained strong, forcing Brown to the perimeter and clearing the zone effectively.
For his second trip to the box tonight, ex-Husky Poitras was called for hooking, giving Northeastern another power play opportunity. The Huskies couldn’t find the back of the net despite several rebounds off of Halyk’s pads.
The period continued with back-and-forth play as speed and physicality increased, but quality opportunities remained scarce. Brown finally broke through with 1:50 remaining when Desiderio shot rang off the post and beat Sigurdson blocker side, cutting the lead to 3-1 and trying to get his team motivated by egging on the Matthews Arena crowd. Poitras and Ivan Zadvernyuk picked up the assists.
When the final period picked up the Huskies saw the penalty box just 50 seconds in as Hryckowian was called for tripping. Brown headed to the power play, generating some chances but again failed to convert against a steadfast Huskies penalty kill.
The rest of the period was disjointed, with frequent whistles disrupting the rhythm, and a scrum midway, which sent Northeastern’s Matthew Maltais, and Brown’s Brian Nicholas to the box. The open ice of 4-on-4 didn’t produce the expected chances, as both teams struggled with sloppy play, and the puck bounced aimlessly all over the ice.
Northeastern generated some breakaway opportunities but couldn’t beat the glove of Halyk. Brown tried to increase their pace, firing a flurry of shots toward Sigurdson, but the Huskies’ defense unit stayed firm.
With 1:20 remaining and Brown’s net empty, senior captain Vinny Borgesi sealed the victory for the Huskies. His empty-netter, with assists from Hryckowian and Eli Sebastian capped a 4-1 win on a special night.
“I know he wanted to play really well today, and for him to get that goal at the end, it’s a big deal for sure,” Keefe said.
The game wasn’t always pretty, but the Huskies got the job done and what mattered most: sending the seniors out with a win on home ice.
Northeastern improves to 10-4-0 on the season and will look to extend their win streak when they host UMass next Saturday, Dec. 6, at 7 p.m. WRBB will be on call on Sports+.
Isabelle Chardavoyne is a second-year student at Northeastern University. She is an aspiring journalist and broadcaster for WRBB.