Box Score

Postgame comments (Jim Madigan)

LOWELL, Mass. - The Northeastern men's hockey team (7-12-3, 4-10-3 HEA) lost a heart-breaking 5-4 overtime affair at No. 15 UMass Lowell in front of the largest crowd in Tsongas Center history (7,013 attendance). Northeastern possessed a 4-1 lead in the third period, but the 15th-ranked River Hawks rallied for three goals in regulation before Christian Folin finished off the job at 2:07 into the overtime session.

Senior Steve Morra churned out his first career multi-point outing with a goal and an assist to extend his point-scoring streak to four games. Newcomer Ryan Belonger snapped his scoring draught with the first strike of the night followed by goals from junior Braden Pimm and veteran Garrett Vermeersch.

The River Hawks bombarded fourth-year netminder Bryan Mountain with 38 shots, outshooting Northeastern, 38-17, on the night. Mountain's 33 saves compared to UML goalie Doug Carr's 12 stops.

Saturday's setback marks NU's first loss of the season when leading through two periods of play. Prior to tonight's game, the Huskies were 7-0-1 when leading after 40 minutes of action.

Northeastern jumped on the power play just 15 seconds into the tilt after Scott Wilson was whistled for contact to the head on rookie Colton Saucerman. The Huskies kept the puck in front of Carr for the duration of the power play, but could not convert early on.

A few minutes later, rookie Mike Gunn and veteran Drew Ellement returned the favor and gave UML a quick two-man advantage at 5:30.  Gunn went in at 4:03 for the 33-second two-man River Hawk advantage, but Riley Wetmore quickly negated it with a hook at 5:46. Mountain came up with a big save during the scoreless power play run.

Midway through the first, Northeastern took the early lead on a rebound from Belonger at 11:41.

Ellement triggered the play with the outlet pass up to junior Zak Stone in the neutral zone. Already in motion, Stone skated with it and blasted Carr with the puck. The disc pinballed out to the left and Belonger swooped in to push it back over the goal line for the 1-0 Huskies' lead.

Northeastern doubled up its lead immediately once the second period commenced, taking advantage of a late Joseph Pendenza hooking call at 19:35 of the opening frame.

Junior Cody Ferriero was the catalyst after connecting with senior captain Vinny Saponari down on the goal line. Saponari took his chance, but Carr made the save. Much like NU's first goal, Pimm pounced on the rebound to give the Huskies the 2-0 lead at 00:56 on the power play.

Trailing by two, UMass Lowell gained a huge at 7:36 of the second stanza but the Huskies' penalty killing unit did not budge. Gunn and Dax Lauwers were whistled at 6:54 and 7:36, in that order, and gave the River Hawks 1:16 of 5-on-3 man advantage. UML blasted from all angles, but never really posed a threat as NU's unit huddled around Mountain to keep the River Hawks at bay.

The Huskies channeled the penalty killing efforts into a three-goal lead on a tally by Vermeersch at 10:58.

Freshman Kevin Roy brought the puck into River Hawk ice and took his chance to Carr's short side. Carr made the first save before Morra scooped the puck and wheeled it behind the net to the other post. Morra's backhand put the puck on net and Vermeersch dived in and paddled it underneath Carr on one skate for the 3-0 advantage midway through two periods.

UMass Lowell stopped the bleeding after Josh Holmstrom snuck in his own rebound at 15:32 to make it a 3-1 affair. Pendenza put the puck on target initially and Holmstrom trailed in on the rebound. After Holmstrom's layup attempt, Mountain was pulled out of position to stop the second opportunity.

Identical to the second period, Northeastern stormed out of the chute and scored under a minute into the opening of the third frame.

Northeastern hovered in UML's end from the opening draw and junior Braden Pimm provided Morra with the puck in perfect position on the right circle. Carr went for the poke check, but Morra maneuvered the puck through his five-hole to give the Huskies a three-goal cushion, 4-1, at 00:48 of the third period.

Pendenza cut Northeastern's lead to two with a goal in transition from A.J. White at 8:03 of the third period.

White relayed the puck through the neutral zone to a flanking Pendenza down the left side. With ample space, Pendenza beat Mountain low with a snap shot through the pads to make it 4-2.

Following a Lauwers hooking infraction at 13:02, Derek Arnold brought the capacity crowd its feet with a wicked wrister from the right dot at 13:59. Arnold skated in from the defensive zone and beat Mountain glove side, unassisted, to make it a one-goal game, 4-3.

Just as it looked like NU was going to close it out, UML head coach Norm Bazin pulled Carr in the final minute and Wetmore made the Huskies pay with the extra attacker. A slew of River Hawks jammed at a puck forced into the goalmouth and Wetmore was the beneficiary of it jutting back out. Wetmore threw it back at Mountain and into the net to force overtime, 4-4.

In the overtime session, the Huskies had the early momentum before UML's Christian Folin turned the tables and roofed the one-timer pass from Jake Suter at 2:07 for the 5-4 victory.

Northeastern returns to Matthews Arena on Friday night for a pre-Beanpot matchup with New Hampshire. The Huskies and Wildcats drop the puck on Feb. 1 at 7 p.m.

Game Notes
• Veteran Steve Morra recorded his first-career multi-point outing in his 42nd-career outing with a goal and an assist on Saturday at UMass Lowell.
 
• Junior Zak Stone registered his seventh-career point and first since the St. Lawrence game on Nov. 23, 2012.
 
• Newcomer Ryan Belonger netted his second-career goal and first since potting the initial goal in the Boston College victory on Oct. 13. It marks Belonger's first point
 
• Junior Braden Pimm posted a career-high four-game point streak on Saturday night at UMass Lowell. The Fort St. John, British Columbia, native has accounted for five points (3-2-5) throughout the stretch. Pimm also scored his second power play goal of the season, third of his career. Pimm's two-point performance marks his third multi-point outing of the season and 11th of his career.
 
• Cody Ferriero matched a Northeastern-best seven-game point streak with an assist on Braden Pimm's power play goal at UMass Lowell. Ferriero has notched 11 points (7-4-11) within recent tear. Vinny Saponari posted a seven-game point streak earlier in the season from Nov. 2 to Nov. 23.
 
• Seniors Steve Morra and Garrett Vermeersch made the scoring sheet in their last four outings. Vermeersch has accounted for five points (2-3-5) in his while Morra has posted an identical scoring line of 2-3-5 over that span. Morra's scoring streak marks a career best while Vermeersch is one game short of matching a career best set from Jan. 21 to Feb. 6, 2012.