POSTGAME PRESS CONFERENCE

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – The Northeastern men's hockey team had a seven-goal frenzy in a 7-3 victory to end New Hampshire's season in the opening round of the Hockey East tournament at Conte Forum on Wednesday night.

Just 2:10 into the opening period, freshman Jacob Mathieu got Northeastern on the board first with a tip-in off a point shot from fellow freshman Dylan Compton. Freshman Amine Hajibi earned the secondary assist on what would stand as the only goal of the opening frame.

The goal-packed second period began with a tying tally from New Hampshire's Alex Carr in the opening two minutes.

The Huskies reclaimed the lead at 2-1 when junior Tyler Fukakusa tallied his third goal of the season. On the rush, freshman Giacomo Martino threw the puck on net, junior Dylan Hryckowian got a touch on it in front, and Fukakusa was there to clean it up at the crease.

Freshman Amine Hajibi pushed the lead to 3-1 with a snipe from inside the right circle. The sequence began with a shot from sophomore Joe Connor on the opposite side, with junior Matthew Perkins picking up the carry before feeding Hajibi for the finish.

New Hampshire added their second of the night, bringing the game within one, thanks to Cam MacDonald.

Before the period would close, Northeastern tacked on two more to finish the frame with four goals. The first of the pair came on the power play, as textbook puck movement from Mathieu and freshman Jack Pechar opened up a rebound opportunity in front for sophomore Joe Connor, who buried his 13th of the year.

The Wildcats kicked off the final frame with a power-play goal from Nick Ring to make it 5-3.

In the final 3:09, Perkins and freshman Noah Jones each added unassisted empty-net goals to cap a 7-3 Northeastern victory.

Junior goaltender Lawton Zacher turned aside 24 shots to earn his first Hockey East Tournament win between the pipes. Freshman Jacob Mathieu and sophomore Griffin Erdman each led the team with three blocked shots, while freshman Amine Hajibi paced Northeastern with a game-high four shots on goal.

With the win, Northeastern advances to the Hockey East quarterfinals and will face second-seeded UMass at the Mullins Center on Saturday, March 14 (4 p.m.).