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DURHAM, N.H. – The No. 14 Northeastern men's ice hockey team (19-13-4) trailed 4-2 with less than four minutes left in the second period, but responded by scoring the game's final three goals, including the game-winner from Mike Szmatula in overtime to send the Huskies to a 5-4 victory in Game Two of the Hockey East quarterfinals on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center.

With the win, Northeastern forces a pivotal Game Three in the league quarterfinal series, which will be played on Sunday afternoon at 4:30 p.m.

Kevin Roy had a pair of goals, including one on a penalty shot, while Colton Saucerman added a goal and an assist and Ryan Belonger netted his fifth goal of the season. Braden Pimm provided two assists for the Huskies and Clay Witt had 31 saves at the other end of the ice.

Casey DeSmith had 28 stops for the Wildcats, who outshot NU 35-33 in the game and won 40-of-64 face-offs. UNH was 0-of-4 on the power play while Northeastern was 0-of-1.

While the Wildcats held a 17-7 edge in shots on goal during the opening 20 minutes, both squads generated several scoring opportunities throughout the first period. Witt made the first big save of the evening six minutes in when he stoned Brett Pesce on the doorstep after a long centering feed from Dan Correale along the left wall.

New Hampshire got on the board first with 8:25 left in the frame when Grayson Downing fired a shot on goal from just inside the blue line that was deflected on its way towards goal and past Witt just as a Northeastern penalty had expired.

Northeastern wasted no time in leveling the score at one less than three minutes after the Downing goal when Belonger hammered home his fifth of the season with 5:46 to play in the period. After Pimm had the puck knocked off his stick in the UNH zone, Belonger scooped up the loose puck and roofed it over DeSmith to make it 1-1. The play was briefly reviewed and stood as called.

Nick Sorkin retook the lead for New Hampshire with less than two minutes remaining in the stanza when he was left alone in front and one-timed a pass from Kevin Goumas behind the net off the right post and past Witt for his 19th goal of the year and 2-1 UNH lead.

Teams continued to create chances during a wild second period that saw the Huskies bury three goals to send the squads into the locker rooms tied at four. Northeastern knotted the game at two apiece just 1:43 into the frame when Matt Benning was hauled down on a breakaway after exiting the penalty box. Roy took the penalty shot for the Huskies, skating in slowly and getting DeSmith to commit low before roofing a shot past him for his 18th goal of the season.

New Hampshire would fire right back, however, as Tyler Kelleher beat Witt for the second time in the weekend for his fifth goal of the year to give the Wildcats a 3-2 advantage. UNH would extend its lead to two midway through the period as Justin Agosta's shot from the point found its way through traffic and past Witt for Agosta's fifth of the year.

The Huskies began to cut into the deficit with 3:31 left in the stanza when Saucerman followed his initial shot from the blue line to hammer home the rebound amid a slew of bodies in the crease to make it 4-3.

Roy then brought the game back to even with 6.6 seconds remaining in the frame when he dug a loose puck in the crease under the pad of DeSmith for his second of the game with the Huskies crashing the net.

The energy continued into the third period with NU holding an 11-8 advantage in shots on goal during the final 20 minutes of regulation. Witt made the save of the night during the first half of the third on a three-on-one opportunity for the Wildcats. With Matt Willows carrying the puck down the right side with two teammates along with him, Willows elected to keep the puck and fire a shot intended for the top left corner, but Witt made the big shoulder save.

Northeastern thought it had taken a 5-4 lead with exactly 10 minutes remaining in the third when Szmatula knocked home a loose puck in the crease after a strong move to the cage from Pimm, but upon further review the officials ruled that a Husky had interfered with DeSmith and not allowing him a chance to make a save.

Minutes after the call, Pimm forced a turnover in front of the New Hampshire goal, resulting in a Szmatula chance on the doorstep that DeSmith denied. At the other end, the NU defense held its ground with several blocked shots during the final eight minutes of the third period to send the game into overtime.

It only took 3:39 for the Huskies to bury the game-winner as Szmatula got a stick on a loose puck after a flurry in front of the New Hampshire goal. The officials would review the goal, but the goal stood as called.

Game Notes:
• Northeastern is now 59-94-15 all-time against New Hampshire, and 2-4-0 all-time against the Wildcats in the Hockey East playoffs.

• NU improves to 6-9 in elimination games in a best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal, including a 4-1 mark in its last five.

• Northeastern secured its first playoff victory against UNH since 1989, and its first win at the Whittemore Center since Nov. 16, 2007.

• Saturday's win gave the Huskies 19 wins this season, tied for the sixth most in program history.

• NU has a ten-game win differential since last season's 9-21-4 team, tied for the fourth biggest turnaround in team history.

• The Huskies' five goals on Saturday is the most scored against New Hampshire since Feb. 22, 2004.

• Witt became the eighth Husky in program history to record at least 1,000 saves in a season, and first since Brad Thiessen during the 2008-09 season.

• Roy became the first Husky to take a penalty shot since Alex Tuckerman against Boston College on Nov. 7, 2009, and the first Husky to score on a penalty shot since Steve Quailer against Merrimack on Jan. 9, 2009.

• Roy recorded his 12th multi-point game of the season on Saturday, and fourth game with two or more goals.

• Saucerman notched his sixth multi-point effort of the year, and has the most points for a defensemen since Anthony Bitetto had 20 (3-17-20) during the 2010-11 season.

• Szmatula's overtime winner gave the Northeastern freshman class 11 game-winning goals this season, tied for the most for any rookie class in the nation.

• Pimm has four goals and four assists in his last seven games.