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DURHAM, N.H. – The Northeastern men's ice hockey team (0-8-1, 0-4-1) erased a three-goal first period deficit to tie the score through two periods before New Hampshire (4-5-0, 1-2-0) potted a pair of third period goals to down the Huskies on Friday night at the Whittemore Center, 5-3.
 
Colton Saucerman, Jarrett Fennell and Dalen Hedges all scored for NU, who received 27 saves from Clay Witt in his first action since Oct. 17. UNH, which was outshot 36-32 by the Huskies, received goals from five different scorers and received 33 saves from Adam Clark.
 
NU was 1-of-2 on the man advantage and won 34-of-61 draws, while UNH capitalized on one of its five power play chances with a goal midway through the third period.
 
New Hampshire came out and took control of the game early in the first period, jumping out to a three-goal lead before Northeastern cut the deficit to two late in the frame. The first came from Collin MacDonald less than two minutes into the contest when he took a feed from Tyler Kelleher and fired a wrist shot that beat Witt shortside for MacDonald's second goal of the season.
 
Andrew Poturalski gave the Wildcats a two-goal cushion midway through the stanza, beating Witt in a similar location on a wrist shot from the slot off a quick transition by New Hampshire. Two minutes later, Matt Willows made it 3-0 when his shot from atop the crease squeaked through the pads of Witt after a shot from Grayson Downing at the point was knocked down by a Northeastern defenseman.
 
The Huskies were awarded a five-minute power play after Dan Correale was assessed a major penalty for interference on a high hit, and NU struck with 4:30 left in the period on a goal from Colton Saucerman. After strong puck movement by Northeastern around the UNH zone, Clark denied a shot by Mike McMurtry, but Saucerman was stationed on the doorstep to bury the rebound for his first goal of the season.
 
NU built off the momentum gained from its late first period goal to battle back and level the score at three through 40 minutes of play. Fennell made it a 3-2 contest 9:37 into the frame when he took a feed from Saucerman across the blue line before firing a shot on goal that hit a body on its way to goal, beating Clark under the blocker for Fennell's first collegiate tally.
 
The line of Kevin Roy, McMurtry and Hedges continued to create chances as the stanza continued, and Hedges knotted the game at three with 7:47 left in the frame when he bolted out from behind the cage to sneak a shot under the pads of Clark for Hedges' second goal of the year. At the other end of the ice, Witt kept the Wildcats at bay by steering aside all eight shots he faced, most of which coming in the final few minutes of the period.
 
The teams traded chances throughout the third period, with shots even at nine apiece, but a Northeastern penalty with 8:55 left in regulation would setup the eventual game-winning goal. After receiving a pass from Willows, John Furgele fired a shot from the point that rang off the right post and past Witt to make it 4-3 with 6:57 to play in the third.
 
After the UNH tally, the Huskies fought in an attempt to find the equalizer, and had its best chance when Dylan Sikura found Mike Szmatula entering the attacking zone before Szmatula hit Adam Reid with a cross ice pass for a shot that Clark stopped. NU would pull Witt in favor of the extra skater with 35 seconds left in regulation, but Casey Thrush iced the game for the Wildcats with an empty netter with 15.2 seconds to play.

The teams will meet again tomorrow night in the series finale at Matthews Arena. Game time is scheduled for 7 p.m.
 
Game Notes:
• Northeastern is now 55-92-15 all-time against New Hampshire
 
• Roy now sits in a tie for 56th all-time in scoring at Northeastern with 86 points (37 goals, 49 assists).
 
• Fennell scored his first collegiate goal in his 35th collegiate game on Friday.
 
• Hedges has six points (two goals, four assists) in his last six games.
 
• Saucerman logged his first multi-point game of the season (one goal, one assist), and ninth of his career.
 
• Benning tied a career-high with two assists on Friday. It was his fourth career multi-point effort.

Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visiting GoNU.com/tickets. In addition, the student sale for the 2015 Beanpot will take place on Saturday, January 17, 2015 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Matthews Arena lobby. Please contact the Ticket Office by calling 617-373-4700 or emailing huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.

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