DURHAM, N.H. - Sophomore defenseman Will MacKinnon (Plymouth, Michigan) scored the game-winning goal in overtime as the University of New Hampshire men's hockey team defeated No. 11 Northeastern, 5-4, on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center. With the win, the Wildcats are now 11-8-1 overall (5-5-0 HEA), while Northeastern falls to 13-6-2 (7-5-1 HEA).
UNH now has five overtime wins this season which ties the school record that was set in 1972-1973. Four of the five overtime wins are at the Whittemore Center. UNH is 8-1-0 at home which ties its best home start in eight seasons.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will return to action for a home-and-home series with No. 12 Providence on Friday and Saturday, Jan. 17-18 at 7 p.m. with both games on NESN. Friday's game is at Schneider Arena in Providence, while the contest on Saturday is at the Whittemore Center presented by ABM. The first 1,000 fans will receive "I Believe In UNH" rally towels on Saturday. Individual game tickets with affordable options that start as low as $9 and a convenient six-ticket flexible miniplan can be purchased for the season by calling the Whittemore Center Box Office at (603) 862-4000 or by visiting UNHWildcats.com.
Score: New Hampshire 5, Northeastern 4 OT
Records: UNH (11-8-1, 5-5-0 HEA), Northeastern (13-6-2, 7-5-1 HEA)
Location: Durham, N.H. (Whittemore Center)
Date: Saturday, Jan. 11, 2020
Time: 7 p.m.
Attendance: 5,091
HOW IT HAPPENED
- At 11:31 of the first period, Northeastern's John Picking blasted a high rocket stick side that reflected off of the pipe away from sophomore Ty Taylor (Richmond, British Columbia) and into safety, keeping the score 0-0.
- At 17:11 of the first period with the Wildcats on the power- play, sophomore Filip Engarås (Stockholm, Sweden) sent a puck into the crease from the left faceoff circle and junior Eric MacAdams (Salem, Mass.) maneuvered around the defense to capitalize on a tipped low puck which went through the five hole of Northeastern goalie Craig Pantano, to give the Wildcats the 1-0 lead.
- In the first period UNH outshot Northeastern by a margin of 11-6 and went 1-2 on the power-play with Northeastern going 0-1.
- At 8:12 of the second period, while on the power-play Northeastern's Grant Jozefek, pushed the puck past Taylor to tie the game 1-1.
- Then at 9:06, Engarås recorded his second assist of the game when he sent a pass to junior Patrick Grasso (Ankeny, Iowa) at the top of the left faceoff circle who then rocketed the puck glove side past Pantano, increasing the margin 2-1.
- At 10:58 after multiple penalties and on the power-play again, MacAdams rifled a pass into traffic from the blue line which landed at the stick of sophomore Angus Crookshank (North Vancouver, British Columbia), who through traffic was able to get behind Pantano from the right side of the crease and slide the puck in the back of the net, for the Wildcats' second power-play goal of the game.
- At 1:34 of the third period, the Huskies scored first with a goal by Tyler Madden who shot top corner stick side behind Taylor.
- Then at 4:01, Northeastern's Jayden Struble sent a slap shot from the right face-off circle that slipped past Taylor's low stick side to tie the game at 3-3.
- At 7:14, Engarås took his space and skated behind the net and then quickly passed the puck to junior Kohei Saito (Nishitokyo, Japan) who waited at the crease, and tapped it behind the pads of Pantano.
- Then moments later at 7:51, Northeastern gained control of the puck with Struble driving a puck into traffic in front of the net, which led to a goal by Matt Filipe to once again tie the game.
- At 2:28 of the overtime period, MacKinnon ripped a slap shot that flew past Pantano, to give the Wildcats the 5-4 win over the Huskies.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- UNH outshot Northeastern by a 32-20 margin.
- Taylor made 16 saves to improve 6-0-0, while Pantano recorded 27 saves.
- The Wildcats went 2-5 on the man-advantage and the Huskies went 1-4.
- The overtime winner was MacKinnon's first goal of the season.
- Engarås recorded three assists in tonight's matchup.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
- UNH has outscored the opposition at home, 32-19.
- The Wildcats are 3-1-0 versus nationally ranked teams.
- UNH is now 3-0-0 when scoring two power play goals in a game.
- The last time UNH defeated Northeastern was on January 12, 2017 at the Whittemore Center with a score of 5-3, as the Huskies had won the previous six contests.
- UNH leads the series at the Whittemore Center 28-8-5 over Northeastern.
- With MacAdams' power-play goal, he extended his point streak to six games. He also tallied a career best three points.
- Engarås posted a career-best three assists and three points.
- Freshman defenseman Kalle Eriksson (Leksand, Sweden) recorded a career-best two assists and two points.
