The Northeastern men’s hockey team (15-15-1, 10-11 HE) swept the University of Massachusetts Lowell River Hawks (12-20, 8-14 HE) Feb. 20 and 21. The Huskies dominated both games, defeating UMass 2-0 and 8-2, respectively. This was the team’s first sweep since Jan. 16 and 18 against the University of New Hampshire.
The first night was tame, with seven penalties shared.
Northeastern’s first goal of the night came 13 minutes into the second period.
Sophomore defenseman Jack Henry received the puck inside the blue line. He changed his direction, confusing his defender before sending a shot into the back of the net for his first collegiate goal.
The Huskies didn’t strike again until there was less than 30 seconds left in the final period.
The River Hawks pulled their goaltender, senior Samuel Richard, for an extra skater, but sophomore forward Griffin Erdman stole the puck and passed to junior forward Eli Sebastian, who scored the empty netter to close the game out 2-0. Junior goaltender Lawton Zacher recorded 32 saves in the shutout, his fifth of the season.
The next night was more intense between the teams, with 16 penalties total. The Huskies broke out of their scoring drought in the absence of junior forward Dylan Hryckowian, who is still injured. Northeastern found the back of the net eight times in the second game of the weekend. This was the most goals the team scored in a game this season, with the second being six goals in the season opener Oct. 4, 2025.
Northeastern started hot, scoring 63 seconds into the game courtesy of Sebastian. Fifty seconds later, sophomore forward Joe Connor also wanted a piece, doubling the Huskies’ lead.
Junior forward Tyler Fukakusa sent the puck down the ice from the defensive zone to the offensive zone to Connor. Connor took on his defender and Richard, netting the puck through his legs.
Northeastern scored its third goal of the night 16 minutes into the first period.
Freshman forward Amine Hajibi grabbed the puck after Lowell’s freshman defenseman Luke Shipley fell and lost possession. Hajibi passed to freshman defenseman Noah Jones, who raced up the ice and shot the puck into the net, recording his first career goal as a Husky.
After this goal, the River Hawks swapped Richard for freshman goaltender Austin Elliott.
But the Huskies didn’t slow down in the second period. Freshman defenseman Dylan Compton sniped the puck eight minutes into the period off a pass from freshman forward Jack Pechar.
The River Hawks finally found themselves on the board a minute later on the power play when senior defenseman TJ Schweighardt sniped a shot from inside the blue line to make the score 4-1.
The next goal was during a Northeastern power play after the River Hawk’s sophomore forward Mirko Buttazzoni was sent to the sin bin for boarding.
From the right faceoff circle, Hajibi passed the puck across the ice to senior defenseman Austen May, who shot the one-timer.
Freshman forward Giacomo Martino scored the sixth goal for the Huskies nine minutes into the third period. Martino picked up the puck from a miscommunication between the River Hawks and sniped the shot.
Sixteen minutes into the final period, the teams were on a 4-on-4 when freshman forward Jack Pechar netted another for Northeastern.
A minute later, Northeastern pulled Zacher for freshman goaltender Matt DellaRusso. DellaRusso has been the third-string goaltender behind sophomore Quentin Sigurdson. Zacher ended the game with 31 saves, and DellaRusso came away with two.
Northeastern scored its final goal on the power play courtesy of junior forward Matthew Perkins.
With four seconds remaining, UMass Lowell’s sophomore forward Lee Parks scored the team’s second of the night, although the nail was already in the coffin.
Northeastern will face the University of Maine Black Bears (16-12-3, 10-10-1 HE) Feb. 27 and 28. The first game is in Maine at 7 p.m., and the second game is a home game hosted at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass. The game will also begin at 7 p.m.
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