UConn men’s hockey falls to Northeastern at Frozen Fenway, 4-1

UConn men’s hockey’s second trip to Fenway Park didn’t go much better than the first as it fell to the Northeastern Huskies, 4-1.

Despite a good overall performance, UConn just couldn’t break through on Northeastern goalie Devon Levi. The net-minder stopped 29 of 30 shots but also denied UConn on more than a few grade-A opportunities. It also didn’t help that the Huskies put just 15 shots on goal over the final two periods after putting that same total on in the first period.

In the other net, Arsenii Sergeev had a rough night. He allowed four goals on 26 shots and could’ve done better on all four.

UConn also failed to convert on its four power plays on the day.

UConn started strong and controlled play for most of the opening period. The Huskies had one extended stretch of zone time where they created three excellent chances, but they were all turned away.

Despite the initially lopsided play, Northeastern struck first. Aidan McDonough picked up the puck in the neutral zone, skated in on a 2-on-1 and sniped the shot past Sergeev to give the other Huskies a 1-0 advantage.

Even with the deficit, UConn remained in control but handed out a gift that doubled the deficit. Harrison Rees chased down a puck behind his own goal and gave it to Roman Kinal, who lost in deep in the zone. Northeastern grabbed it and got it to net, where Liam Walsh finished the chance on the doorstep. Despite a good effort in the first 20 minutes, UConn went into the first intermission down 2-0.

That score held through the second period even though UConn continued to generate dangerous looks. Devon Levi proved difficult to beat, though. Hudson Schandor looked to have an opening on the door step, only to be denied. Ryan Tverberg tried a cross-ice pass to a crashing Jake Percival but Levi turned it away.

Even with 21 shots through 40 minutes, UConn didn’t have anything to show for it.

The Huskies finally got on the board with 7:34 when Wood sent a floater past Levi. Then, all hell broke loose.

UConn nearly evened the game on the next shift but were denied. Northeastern picked up the puck, went down and scored just 35 seconds later to push the lead back to two.

Just moments after, Hudson Schandor appeared to answer right back when he poked home a loose puck after a scrum in front of net. However, Northeastern challenged the play for goaltender interference and after a review, the officials waved the goal off.

Northeastern finished the game off with its fourth goal to reach the final score of 4-1.

Next, the two teams will face off next Saturday for the first men’s game at Toscano Family Ice Forum, UConn’s new on-campus hockey arena.