Aston-Reese Nets Hat Trick As Northeastern Topples Clarkson, 8-2
Senior forward Zach Aston-Reese scores hat trick for Huskies

Senior forward Zach Aston-Reese scored a hat trick for the Huskies
Prd Time  Team Score Type Scored By Assists
1st 0:47  NOE1-0 EV Lincoln Griffin (5)Adam Gaudette/14
1st 2:17  NOE2-0 EV Garret Cockerill (4) -
1st 7:54  NOE3-0 PP GW Dylan Sikura (11)Adam Gaudette/15, Garret Cockerill/12
1st 11:49  NOE4-0 EV Matt Filipe (3)Brendan Collier/5, Sam Kurker/1
1st 15:31  CLK1-4 EV Nic Pierog (3)Terrance Amorosa/4
2nd 1:32  NOE5-1 SH Zach Aston-Reese (15)Tanner Pond/1
2nd 8:19  NOE6-1 EV Adam Gaudette (10)Lincoln Griffin/3, Dylan Sikura/18
2nd 13:59  NOE7-1 PP Zach Aston-Reese (16)John Stevens/9, Adam Gaudette/16
3rd 8:01  CLK2-7 SH Perry D'Arrisso (2)Sam Vigneault/10
3rd 13:41  NOE8-2 EV Zach Aston-Reese (17) -
Scoring 1st 2nd 3rd Final
Clarkson  1012
Northeastern  4318
Shots on Goal 1st 2nd 3rd SOG
Clarkson  10161440
Northeastern  129324
Team Stats and Records  PP PIM SHGF
Clarkson (9-8-3)  0/5 6/12 1
Northeastern (7-7-4)  2/5 6/12 1
Clarkson Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Jake Kielly (L, 8-7-3)11:494 5005
Ville Runola36:123 36110
Steve Perry11:591 0011
Northeastern Goaltending MIN GA 1 2 3 Saves
Ryan Ruck (W, 7-6-3)60:002 9161338

BOSTON - Zach Aston-Reese had a hat trick for the second straight game, Adam Gaudette tied a career-high with four points (one goal, three assists), and the Northeastern men's hockey team (7-7-4) scored four goals in the first period and added three more in the second to skate to an 8-2 victory against Clarkson (9-8-3) on Friday night at Matthews Arena.

Aston-Reese, who has 11 goals and seven assists in his last seven games, moved into a tie for 29th on Northeastern's all-time scoring list with 117 points, and also cracked the top-30 for career goals scored (52).

At the other end, Ryan Ruck was steady in goal throughout the evening for the hosts, making a season-high 38 saves, including 29 over the final two periods.

Nine different Huskies logged points on the evening, while Zach Aston-Reese (two goals), Gaudette, Lincoln Griffin, Garret Cockerill, Dylan Sikura and Matt Filipe all found the back of the net. Nic Peirog and Perry D'Arrisso both scored for Clarkson, which used all three of its goalies (Jake Kielly, five saves; Ville Runola, 10 saves; Steve Perry, one save) in the game.

Northeastern dictated the pace of play from start to finish, bolting out to a 4-0 first period lead before extending it to 7-1 through 40 minutes. NU used special teams to its advantage, going 2-of-5 on the man advantage and adding a shorthanded marker while the penalty killing unit was a perfect 5-of-5.

Goal descriptions:

- The Huskies bolted out to a 1-0 lead just 47 seconds into the game when Griffin potted his fifth of the year. After the Golden Knights tried to clear the puck out of the defensive zone, Griffin intercepted the pass and tossed it to Adam Gaudette for a shot that Kielly stopped, but Griffin was there to hammer home the rebound five-hole for the early lead.

- Northeastern struck again less than two minutes later when the Huskies benefited from a fortuitous bounce, resulting in Cockerill's fourth of the year. Following a NU dump-in, a Clarkson defenseman attempted to rim the puck around the boards, but Cockerill pinched in and fired it towards the cage, catching the skate of the defenseman and sneaking past Kielly for the score.

- Sikura put Northeastern on top by three with 12:06 to go in the first period with his 11th goal of the season. With the Huskies on the power play, Cockerill dropped a pass to Gaudette in the neutral zone who then sent it across to Sikura coming with speed. Sikura when navigated his way through a sea of Clarkson defenders before firing a wrist shot that beat Kielly shortside.

- Filipe got into the act with 8:11 remaining in the opening frame with his third tally of the year. With NU controlling the puck below the goal line, Sam Kurker fed the puck down to Brendan Collier behind the cage. Collier then stepped out and found Filipe at the far post, who created some separation from the Clarkson defender, for the tap in past Kielly.

- Clarkson got one with 4:29 to play in the first period on Nic Pierog's third of the season after Terrance Amorosa pounced on a clearing attempt by NU to send Clarkson in two-on-one in transition. Amorosa skated down the left side before saucering the puck over to Pierog for a shot past Ruck.

- NU regained its four-goal edge with a shorthanded marker 1:32 into the second period on Aston-Reese's team-leading 15th goal of the year. Aston-Reese began the play with a shot block in the defensive zone, deflecting the puck over the Tanner Pond. The two played catch with the puck as they transitioned two-on-one up-ice before Pond landed a pass right on Aston-Reese's blade for the tap-in past Runola.

- Northeastern went up by five at the 8:19 mark of the second with Gaudette's 10th of the year as Sikura tossed the puck into a dangerous area to Griffin, whose shot from in tight was stopped by Runola, but the rebound jumped right out front to Gaudette, who cleaned up the mess to give NU a 6-1 lead.

- Aston-Reese netted his second of the evening with Northeastern on the power play when he finished off some tic-tac-toe passing between Sikura, Gaudette and John Stevens before Aston-Reese finished it off on the doorstep with 6:01 left in the period.

- Perry D'Arrisso made it a 7-2 game with 11:59 left in regulation with a shorthanded marker of his own. With NU operating on the power play, D'Arrisso forced a turnover in the neutral zone and poked the puck over to Sam Vigneault. The pair then went in two-on-one as Vigneault returned the pass to D'Arrisso, who beat Ruck five-hole.

- Aston-Reese completed the hat trick with 6:19 to play in regulation on a great individual effort, skating the puck from the defensive zone, stickhandling through a pair of defenders and tucking one under the pad of Perry for his second straight hat trick.

Stats of the game:

- Northeastern is now 7-14-1 all-time against Clarkson. Friday was the first meeting between the two teams since Nov. 30, 2002.

- The Huskies extended their home unbeaten streak against non-conference opponents to nine games (8-0-1), and is now 15-3-3 in their last 21 games at Matthews Arena, dating back to last season.

- Friday marked the 200th career game for head coach Jim Madigan. He is 86-88-26 (.495) in five-plus seasons, and has the second highest winning percentage for a Northeastern head coach through 200 games (Herb Gallagher, .508).

- NU has now won six consecutive non-conference games, and improves to 6-1-3 in its first game following the holiday break over the last 10 years.

- Aston-Reese moved into a tie for 29th on Northeastern's all-time scoring list with 117 points, and also cracked the top-30 for career goals scored (52).

- Gaudette tied a career-high with four points (one goal, three assists)

- Sikura extended his point streak to seven games (seven goals, nine assists), a new career-long, while Aston-Reese has points in each of his last seven games (11 goals, seven assists). Stevens, meanwhile, has points in three straight games (one goal, five assists).

- Griffin's first period goal marked the third time this season that Northeastern has scored in the opening minute of the game.

The road ahead:

- Northeastern continues its tour of the ECAC on Tuesday when the Huskies travel to New Haven, Conn. for a date with Yale at 7 p.m. It will be Northeastern's first trip to Ingalls Rink since Nov. 26, 1995.