LOWELL — After splitting a two-game set with No. 6 Providence, Northeastern traveled north to face a scrappy UMass Lowell team fresh off a sweep of Vermont. Behind a perfect 33-save night from senior netminder Lawton Zacher, the Huskies earned a gritty 2-0 road victory nearly three hours after the opening faceoff.
Friday presented an uphill battle before puck drop. Already without top scorer Dylan Hryckowian for the fifth consecutive contest, Keefe deemed freshman Jacob Mathieu, second on the team in points, unavailable. Outside of his scoring contributions, the first-line center has been Northeastern’s top option at the dot this season.
Early on, both teams struggled with puck control as the biscuit rolled relentlessly. A tall and heavy River Hawks lineup dominated physically and jumped out to a 7-2 edge in shots on goal seven minutes in. Without Mathieu, Lowell comfortably controlled draws and sustained extended offensive zone pressure.
As the first period wore on, Northeastern began counteracting Lowell’s physicality with speed, particularly through stretch passes in the neutral zone.
“They swarm you, so you’ve got to be ready for that,” Keefe said. “Your wall play’s got to be good in the offensive zone, picking pucks up clean so you can make the next play. I thought our defense did a pretty good job back there tonight.”
With 2:55 remaining in the opening period, officials flagged Lowell’s Nate Misskey a minor for cross-checking and junior Tyler Fukakusa one for embellishment. On the 4-on-4, Northeastern found multiple shooting lanes and battered River Hawks senior goaltender Samuel Richard with shots, but the netminder stood tall and kept the game scoreless through the end of the first.
After the intermission, the Huskies adjusted to Lowell’s physical forecheck and maintained the zone for almost a full 20 minutes, leading shots 21-12 (10-8 on goal) in the middle frame. After numerous quality looks turned down, Northeastern finally netted the game’s first score with 6:49 remaining when sophomore Griffin Erdman forced the puck loose on the forecheck and fed Jack Henry in the slot. Henry slipped past freshman David Adaszynski and ripped a glove-side shot under the bar for his first career goal to make it 1-0.
“It was a great goal — nice play at the blue line, good poise with the puck, and we had good net presence,” Keefe said. “Obviously a huge, huge goal, and happy for [Henry] to get that one, the game-winner.”
Two minutes later, Northeastern began its second power play on freshman Ryan Kroll’s slashing minor. Last weekend, Lowell successfully killed nine of 10 penalties against a Vermont team that scored six goals against Boston College the week prior, and on Friday, the River Hawks continued to dazzle on the disadvantage and did not allow a single Northeastern shot on goal, countering with two on Zacher’s net.
Momentum swung late in the period for Northeastern when officials assessed freshman Diego Butazzoni a five-minute major and a game misconduct for hitting Henry from behind close to the boards.
Following the final intermission, Northeastern opened the third with over two and a half minutes on the man advantage, generating three of its six shots on goal in the period. Freshman Amine Hajbi rifled two one-timers on net, and Richard denied sophomore Joe Connor at the doorstep.
Outside the three power play looks to open the frame, Lowell controlled the tempo of the third; the River Hawks outpaced Northeastern comfortably in shots and led at the dot 13-5.
Keefe credited discipline for allowing the Huskies to survive extended pressure.
“That was one of our keys to the game,” he said. “We knew we had to win special teams or be even. I thought we did a good job playing physical, playing smart in between the whistles, and our checking was good without taking penalties.”
Playing up to Lowell’s physicality proved taxing, and a bizarre shift in pace arrived with 9:30 remaining when freshman Giacomo Martino crashed into the glass along the boards to the left of Zacher’s cage in Northeastern’s zone, shattering part of the half wall and forcing an 11-minute delay.
The facility malfunction gave Northeastern an 11-minute break before play resumed.
“We were able to use that time to get a couple of guys some rest there,” Keefe said. “That’s going to be a key tomorrow, too.”
After just under seven minutes of back-and-forth skating in both zones, Lowell head coach Norm Bazin pulled Richard for an extra attacker with 2:52 remaining in regulation. Northeastern struggled to clear, and Zacher turned aside a flurry that included three point-blank attempts following a River Hawks offensive zone draw win with 90 seconds left.
“[Zacher] was really good,” Keefe said. “He made a couple of key saves, timely saves. I thought both goalies played really well.”
Northeastern finally sealed the win with 27 seconds remaining. Despite losing a defensive zone faceoff, Erdman recovered the puck and flipped it to junior Eli Sebastian in neutral ice, who buried the empty-netter.
“It was just a really good team win tonight,” Keefe said. “Going into the game, we knew we were probably going to have to win it 1-0, 2-0, hopefully get the three goals type of situation. That’s kind of how it played out. Lowell doesn’t give you a lot.”
Northeastern returns to action Saturday against UMass Lowell. Puck drop is set for 6:05 p.m., with Max Schwartzberg and Kabir Singh on the call for WRBB Sports.
Max Schwartzberg is a junior at Northeastern and covers hockey, basketball, and baseball in print and on air. He is also a Cape Cod Baseball League announcer for the Hyannis Harbor Hawks. You can read his articles here and follow his Instagram here.