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Sophomore forward Nick Capone had two goals and an assist for UConn
Capone's Three Points Lead UConn Past Northeastern, 5-3
Sophomore forward Nick Capone had two goals and an assist for UConn

Box Score

BOSTON, Mass. - UConn sophomore Nick Capone (East Haven, Conn.) scored a pair of goals and added an assist to lead the Huskies to a 5-3 Hockey East win at No. 20 Northeastern Tuesday night at Matthews Arena.

UConn moves to 3-3-0 overall and 2-1-0 in Hockey East after winning in their third-straight trip to Matthews Arena. Northeastern falls to 3-3-0 and 0-2-0 in the league.

After a quick Northeastern goal in the first period UConn scored three-straight to take a 3-1 lead after the first 20 minutes, two coming from Capone around senior Ryan Wheeler's (Lancaster, N.Y.) first of the season and the Huskies never looked back.

Freshman Chase Bradley (St. Louis, Mo.) and senior Marc Gatcomb (Woburn, Mass.) both scored in the second answering NU power play goals to keep the Husky lead at two heading to the third. UConn's defense took over in the third period, outshooting Northeastern 14-8 and killing off a power play to seal the win.

Gatcomb added an assist to his totals while sophomore Ryan Tverberg (Richmond Hill, Ontario) picked up a pair of assists. UConn held a 41-31 shot edge and grad student goaltender Darion Hanson (East Bethel, Minn.) made 28 stops in the win.

Northeastern got a goal and assist from both Aidan McDonough and Justin Hryckowian. Goaltender Devon Levi made 36 saves.


1st period:

UConn fell behind 1-0 just 4:09 into the game but scored the next three to come away with a dominating effort in the first period. NU got the first goal as Jackson found empty space in front of Hanson and took a pass from Tyler Spott, using his body to shield the puck and shovel a backhander in for a 1-0 lead.

Coming just as a UConn penalty ended, senior Marc Gatcomb (Woburn, Mass.) found Capone out of the box at mid-ice for a break-away chance. The sophomore forward drove to the right post and three as shot that beat Levi five-hole to tie the game at 1-1 at 11:13.

The Huskies took the lead at 16:45 on Wheeler's first of the season. The senior defenseman picked the puck up off a drop pass from Vladislav Firstov (Yaroslavl, Russia) at the point and fired low on net using a screen from Jachym Kondelik (Budejovice, Czech Republic) in front to beat Levi.

UConn needed just 1:07 to take a 3-1 lead on Capone's second of the night. Grad student Kevin O'Neil came up the left wing and fired the puck to the front of the net where a charging Capone was able to re-direct it in at 17:52.


2nd period:

Northeastern got a 5-on-3 power play chance at 11:28 and were able to take advantage to cut into the UConn lead. Justin Hryckowian fired on net and McDonough was able to clean up the rebound in front, his sixth of the season, to pull within 3-2.

UConn had an answer at 15:46 as Bradley was able to get his first career goal. Capone fired from in front with Levi getting a stop but Bradley fought his way to the net and poked the rebound in for a 4-2 lead.

Another power play chance and another NU goal at 16:20 as Hryckowian took a feed from McDonough coming into the slot and beat Hanson for his first of the season to pull his team within 4-3. UConn answered right back again, this time just 30 seconds later. Kondelik and Jonny Evans (North Delta, British Columbia) won a puck battle behind the NU net and Gatcomb was waiting in the left circle to take a feed and bury a wrister for a 5-3 lead into the second break.


3rd period:

The Huskies kept Northeastern off the scoreboard int eh third, holding a 14-8 shot edge while also killing off a penalty to seal the win.


Up Next:

UConn is back on the road on Saturday night for a non-conference match-up at Dartmouth. Opening face-off is 8 pm live on ESPNplus.