STORRS, Conn. — Coming off back-to-back victories over BC and Holy Cross, Northeastern entered Storrs with confidence , but were faced with a Connecticut team that has been their Achilles’ heel over the past few seasons. Nevertheless, Northeastern got the scoring going early against UConn on Friday night and never looked back on the way to a dominant 4-1 victory over their fellow Husky opponent.
Toscano Family Ice Forum has been a house of horrors for Northeastern, having not won in that building since March 2024 — UConn had also defeated Northeastern in the last five matchups since. Friday night, boosted by shaky play in the opposite net the Huskies righted those tides.
“That [was] a good team win,” said head coach Jerry Keefe. “[Toscano is] not an easy place to come in and win. So [we’re] happy with the win. I just thought we were a little inconsistent at times, and kind of playing the way we need to play when we have success.”
The injection of speed to the Northeastern lineup proved beneficial over UConn, who in years past has had their way with their visitors On Friday, however, it was Northeastern who had the faster step.
The scoring started just five minutes into the game when sophomore Giacomo Martino got his second goal of the season on the powerplay from what seemed like an impossible angle. The lefty was able to roof the puck short side over goaltender Veeti Louhivaara with what looked like the blade of his stick on the goal line.
Martino finished the bout with a game-leading two points, notching an assist on Joe Connor’s first of the year in the second period.
“Anytime you can get the lead, it’s huge,” Keefe said. “I liked how we came out tonight. I thought our effort right off the bat. I thought our mindset was good there, so it was good to get that first one, get the lead, and then continue to go to work from there.”
Northeastern added a goal from freshman Dawson Sharkey in the first and piled on with two more in the second period from Connor and Jack Pechar — both their first goals of the season.
“Both of them are obviously pretty important pieces to our team,” Keefe said. “[Joe Connor has] been playing really well. I thought his best game was against Holy Cross and had a lot of looks in that game, [but] wasn’t able to finish. And then tonight, obviously, great play by Martino on the forecheck there to make a play on that goal. So it’s good to get JC [going]. Hopefully, he can get hot.”
Connor is a leader in the Northeastern forward group. Although they have not lacked in scoring, the expectation is for him to be one of Northeastern’s top goal-scorers as the season progresses.
“Yeah, it just felt good. [I] was due to get the first one [and] was looking for it [in] the first seven [games],” said Connor. “It was nice to get that one under the belt, and I think we’ll keep on coming now.
“I think we came out hot,” he continued. “The start was definitely what we were looking for. Towards the end of the game, we definitely got away from it, but we’ll come back tomorrow better than ever. Just coming out like we did tonight, putting [the] puck behind their [defense]. Their [defense is] shaky, so playing behind their D, [and] playing low on them. They can’t do much on us.”
Going into Saturday afternoon’s matchup, Northeastern is positioned well to continue earning Hockey East points. Prior to Friday, Northeastern had yet to earn a regulation win in conference play and sat 10th in the standings with just three points.
Northeastern looks to keep their three game win streak going when they face UConn for the second consecutive matchup at PeoplesBank Arena. Luke Graham and Kabir Singh will have the call on Saturday on WRBB Sports+ at 3 p.m.
Luke Graham is the Sports Director and former Digital Content Manager for WRBB Sports. He has covered Northeastern hockey and baseball with WRBB both on-air and in print for four years. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X here.