HAMDEN, Conn -- The Northeastern men's ice hockey team closes out a weekend set against Quinnipiac on Sunday afternoon when the two teams collide at 4 p.m. The Huskies carry a five-game losing skid into Sunday's tilt following a 3-2 loss at the hands of the Bobcats last night, and is looking to get themselves into the win column before beginning a stretch of six straight Hockey East contests next weekend.
Â
Recapping last night's loss to QuinnipiacFacing a 3-1 third period deficit, Northeastern battled back to make it a one-goal game, but could not net the equalizer as Quinnipiac edged the Huskies on Saturday night at TD Bank Sports Center, 3-2.
Â
Kevin Roy had a goal and added an assist for the Huskies, while
Derick Roy made 31 stops in goal.
Garret Cockerill also scored for the Huskies, the first of his collegiate career. Quinnipiac, which outshot NU 34-22, capitalized on both of its power play opportunities and received 20 saves from Michael Garteig.
Â
Primed to break outThe Husky offense, which was tied for 16th in the nation with 3.16 goals per game in 2013-14, has been held to 1.20 goals per game through five contests this season. NU has had a pair of two-goal efforts bookend two shutouts at No. 6/4 Colgate two weeks ago. Two of the opposing goaltenders, however, rank in the top 15 in the nation in both goals against average and save percentage (Brody Hoffman, Vermont; Charlie Finn, Colgate).
Â
Kevin Roy, meanwhile, was held to one point in Northeastern's four games this season, including three straight games without getting on the score sheet before picking up his first multi-point effort of the season on Saturday night. It was just the second time in his collegiate career that Roy has been held without a point (Oct. 20-27, 2012). The last time it happened, Roy responded with eight points (two goals, six assists) in his next six games, including a four-game point streak directly following the three-game drought.
Â
Shuffling the deckLooking to spark his club,
Jim Madigan and the NU coaching staff have utilized 13 different line combinations at forward, and 10 combinations on defense through five games this season. Four Huskies have already made their collegiate debuts (
Garret Cockerill,
Trevor Owens,
Dylan Sikura,
Nolan Stevens) while two others have made their Northeastern debuts (
Brendan Collier,
Ryan Rosenthal). So far, the line of
Zach Aston-Reese,
John Stevens and
Torin Snydeman have supplied the most offense while playing together (1-3-4).
Right in the middle of itSophomore winger
Zach Aston-Reese has found himself at the forefront of Northeastern's scoring attack this season. The Staten Island, New York native has been on the ice for four of the Huskies' six goals this season, and leads the squad with three assists.
Â
Platoon between the pipesFor the second straight season, Northeastern's opponents have gotten a look at two of the Huskies' top netminders. Redshirt senior
Clay Witt started the team's first two games of the season, while
Derick Roy got the nod in each of the last three games. Roy responded by making a career-high 38 saves against one of the nation's top teams in Colgate on Oct. 18.
Â
Witt ranks second all-time at Northeastern in goals against average (2.58) and first in save percentage (.925). He's also tied with Marc Robitaille for fourth all-time in career shutouts (four) in just 50 career games.
Â
Jumping into the rushFreshman defenseman
Garret Cockerill has found himself in the middle of the Husky attack early on in his Northeastern career. The Brighton, Mich. native has logged more than 23 minutes of ice time in each of his five games this season, including a season-high 25:05 against Vermont on Oct. 11.
Â
Last weekend against UMass, Cockerill collected his first collegiate point with the secondary assist on
Torin Snydeman's first period goal. Later in the frame, he also assisted on
Dalen Hedges' tally. Cockerill potted his first collegiate goal last night against the Bobcats with a power play tally in the second period.Â
Â
Back in the Nutmeg StateThe Huskies will be making their first trip to Connecticut since the 2006-07 season when Northeastern competed in the UConn Hockey Classic. NU is 13-20-2 (.400) all-time in the state of Connecticut, including a 4-2-0 mark in the last six games in the state.
Â
The all-time series with the BobcatsNortheastern and Quinnipiac are meeting for just the third time in the history of the two programs. NU won the first matchup nearly 12 years ago on Nov. 23, 2002 at Matthews Arena, 2-1. With the game tied midway through the third period, Donny Glover put the hosts up for good on a goal with 6:11 left in regulation. The win set off a hot streak for the Huskies, which won four of its next five games.
Â
Scouting QuinnipiacQuinnipiac hosts Northeastern in the midst of a six-game home stand, and following a 10-day layoff. After winning their second game of the season against Bentley, the Bobcats dropped two of their last three games, including a 4-1 loss to Connecticut on Oct. 21 before last night's game.
Â
Forwards Matthew Peca and Sam Anas lead Quinnipiac in points this season with six apiece. Peca has become a strong distributor for the Bobcats through the early parts of the season with five assists, while Anas has become a strong shooter, scoring four goals and assisting on two others. Landon Smith, a freshman forward, is just behind Peca and Anas on the stat sheet with three points (2-3-5). In all, 16 different Bobcats have registered at least one point through the team's first five games.
Â
In between the pipes for Quinnipiac has been Michael Garteig, a junior, and Sean Lawrence, a freshman. Garteig has made four starts this season, allowing 12 goals while making 68 saves. He has a goals against average of 3.18 and a save percentage of .850. The rookie, on the other hand, has made one start but appeared in two games. He has allowed four goals while making 20 saves.
Â
The road aheadNortheastern begins a string of six straight conference games next weekend in a home-and-home set with UMass Lowell, beginning on Friday night at the Tsgonas Center. NU took both games from the River Hawks last season, including a 4-1 victory at Citi Frozen Fenway 2014.
Â
Season tickets, as well as individual game tickets, are available for men's ice hockey and can be purchased by visitingÂ
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 emailingÂ
huskytix@neu.edu with any questions.
For complete coverage of Northeastern and Northeastern hockey, follow us on Facebook (
Northeastern andÂ
Northeastern Men's Ice Hockey) and Twitter (
@GoNUathletics andÂ
@GoNUmhockey). Check out exclusive videos onÂ
GoNUxstream and behind-the-scenes content on Instagram (
GoNUathletics). .