Box score

Postgame comments (Jim Madigan - YouTube.com)

Senior captain Mike McLaughlin scored a goal at 18:48 of the third period for the comeback bid, but Northeastern ultimately lost at New Hampshire on Friday night, 3-2, at the Whittemore Center.

Junior forward Robbie Vrolyk set the precedent with a goal 30 seconds into the contest, but New Hampshire responded a few minutes later and dictated the tempo for the duration of the contest.

Vrolyk scored his fourth goal in three games while McLaughlin posted his fourth multi-point game of the season with the extra-attacker marker and a helper on Vrolyk's goal.

Junior goaltender Chris Rawlings stopped 28 shots on 31 UNH attempts to slip to 11-12-3 while rookie goaltender Casey DeSmith won his sixth-career game by turning aside 24 shots. The Wildcats outshot Northeastern, 31-26. The physicality was at a dull roar on Friday night as New Hampshire went 0-for-2 on the power play while Northeastern did not convert on its only opportunity.

Northeastern wasted little time making its mark on the contest, scoring a goal on the second shift of the game. The Huskies' first line put three pucks on net and forced DeSmith to cover, but right off the ensuing draw, McLaughlin cleanly swept the puck out to Vrolyk on the left wing. Vrolyk picked his spot and found the back of the net before DeSmith could pick up sight of the rubber for the 1-0 edge.

The Wildcats tied it up quickly following a rip off the crossbar at 3:45 of the first period from John Henrion. On New Hampshire's next possession, Nick Sorkin swept the puck out of UNH territory to Stevie Moses on the red line. Moses streaked down the right side and slipped a wrist shot from the right dot through Rawlings' pads at 4:26 to sew it up, 1-1.

The Huskies possessed in Wildcats' territory for a good while before momentum turned in favor of New Hampshire. Henrion hit his second pipe of the net around the 11:30 mark of the first stanza before Austin Block put UNH ahead at 16:43. Off a broken play behind Rawlings, Block swooped in and stole the puck from an NU blue liner and tossed the puck at Rawlings' skates from behind the net. The puck made a fortuitous carom in UNH's favor across the goal line for a 2-1 Wildcat advantage.

Before the first period came to a close, Northeastern's penalty killing unit took care of a rookie Ludwig Karlsson interference call at 17:40 to keep the Huskies' heads above water.

In the first minute of the second stanza, both teams registered high-percentage chances with big rebounds, but the right defenseman for each club swept the disc away before anybody could reach it.

Transitional play dominated the middle portion of the second period before Henrion rang the pipe for the third time of the night. That shot triggered a heavy dose of UNH possession and eventually gave way to a 3-1 lead.

Rawlings denied Matt Willows on the doorstep at the 14:00 mark, but on the next cycle, Damon Kipp smacked a slap shot that was redirected by Block in front of Rawlings for the 3-1 lead at 14:39. Willows connected with Kipp on the cross-ice pass just within the blue line and Kipp smoked it into traffic on the goalmouth. Block was the beneficiary of his stick being in the right place at the right time and netted his second goal of the night.

Northeastern closed out the second frame with heavy pressure on DeSmith from all angles, but New Hampshire's defense withheld the Huskies' barrage and headed into the locker room with a 3-1 cushion after two periods of regulation.

Three minutes into the third stanza, Vrolyk and McLaughlin nearly connected on another tally. McLaughlin wrangled a puck away on the red line and thread the needle to Vrolyk on the blue line. Vrolyk made a quick deke to his left, but DeSmith shifted over and denied the attempt.

New Hampshire gained its second power of the game after sophomore Luke Eibler took Moses down from behind at 9:01 of the third. McLaughlin was aggressive on the penalty kill and made several plays to keep UNH off the board. Rawlings made two big stops within the window to keep it a 3-1 contest.

Kevin McCarey was assessed a boarding penalty at 11:50 for the Huskies' first power play of the game. New Hampshire pinned NU against the boards on several chances and prevented Northeastern for registering a shot during the extra-man opportunity.

Henrion smacked the pipe for the fourth time of the game at the 16:00-minute mark, but Northeastern inched to within a goal after Rawlings was pulled at 18:30.

Once NU's net was unstaffed, junior Drew Daniels chipped the puck into UNH's end and connected with second-year blue liner Luke Eibler at the top of the right zone. Eibler zeroed in on the net and McLaughlin took a hack at the disc after the initial shot. DeSmith was still focused on the initial shot and McLaughlin was able to make it 3-2 with the extra attacker at 18:48

Rawlings was tossed back into net, but after Northeastern won the draw after the goal, he came racing back to the bench. The Huskies had control in New Hampshire's end but could not tie it up in regulation as New Hampshire came away with the 3-2 victory.

Northeastern will meet Harvard at the TD Garden in the consolation game of the 60th annual Beanpot Tournament on Monday night at 4:30 p.m. The Huskies have played in the consolation game 46 times and won the game on 16 occasions. In the Beanpot Tournament, Northeastern is 18-22 against the Crimson. In the last meeting between the two teams, Northeastern blanked Harvard, 4-0, on Feb. 7, 2011.

Game Notes
• Northeastern is now 32-31-3 in games between the Beanpot. In the formative years of the Beanpot Tournament, there was more than one contest between the two Mondays.

• Robbie Vrolyk has now scored four goals in his last three games. The Boylston, Mass. native has registered seven points this season (4-3-7). His goal at UNH counted for his 20th-career point at Northeastern (11-9-20).

• Robbie Vrolyk's goal that occurred 30 seconds into the game tied a season best for quickest Huskies' goal of the season. Braden Pimm lit the lamp at the 00:30 mark at Notre Dame on Dec. 2 in the 9-2 triumph.

• Mike McLaughin scored Northeastern's first extra attacker goal since the outing against Boston University on Jan. 13.

• The Huskies are 0-5-1 in their last six trips to the Whittemore Center.