The Northeastern Huskies were all about protecting the house in their Frozen Fenway encounter with UConn on Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park.
Fenway was a technically neutral site but the Huskies took a home ice attitude into their dramatic 4-1 victory in the opener of the Hockey East doubleheader on Lansdowne Street.
“It felt like a home game,” said NU senior captain Aidan McDonough of Milton. “We had the band here and we had a big student section and when we scored it got pretty loud.
“We could have walked here so I think it felt like a home game to us.”
Northeastern was a team in desperate need of a meaningful victory. NU had dropped six of the last seven and opened the New Year with a loss to Harvard.
NU coach Jerry Keefe hopes beating the second-place team in the conference in a showcase match inside an iconic sports venue could be the jumping off point for a second-half run. NU improved to 9-9-3 overall and 7-4-3 in Hockey East.
“They came in with the confidence we were looking for and they knew this was a big stage and it was a big opportunity for our team,” said Keefe. “We have a lot of guys who have won and there is a confidence and sometimes it is just a case of finding a way to win.”
Northeastern was busy protecting its two-goal lead before a scoring frenzy took hold in the third. UConn made it a one goal game on a tally by Matthew Wood at 12:26. Sophomore forward Chase Bradley fired a shot through a screen that Wood slipped past Devon Levi (29 saves) for his eighth of the season.
Northeastern responded with a fantastic rush by sophomore forward Justin Hryckowian that made it 3-1 at 13:01. McDonough and Lund were credited with the assists. UConn had a goal at 13:31 disallowed by goaltender interference.
“That goal was absolutely huge, a big-time player making a big-time play,” said Keefe. “You need your best players to make plays like that.
“It was 2-1 and with the things that had gone on with our group, you might fall back on your heels a little bit so it was a huge lift for us.”
Freshman forward Jack Williams of Biddeford, Maine put the game away with a tally at 16:44. Williams broke down right wing, cut through the low slot and scored on a backhander to make it 4-1.
“He (Williams) has sneaky speed, he is strong and he can skate,” said Keefe.
Northeastern jumped to a 2-0 lead in the first period. McDonough, a 6-2, 200-pound senior right wing, opened the scoring at 10:36 with freshman forward Cam Lund and senior defenseman Tyler Spott credited with the assists.
Liam Walsh, a graduate transfer from Merrimack, scored the second goal with the assists going to Williams and sophomore right wing Matt Choupani. Levi kept UConn off the board for two periods before the fireworks went off in the third.