Coming off their upset of No. 1 Boston College, ninth-seeded Northeastern takes on Maine in a conference semifinal at 7:35 p.m. Thursday.
The Northeastern Huskies are experiencing the sweet spot of high confidence and minimal pressure as they approach their Hockey East semifinal at TD Garden.
The ninth-seeded Huskies (14-19-3) have already won a pair of tournament games on the road — including a quarterfinal upset at No. 1 Boston College Saturday — to become the lowest seed ever to reach the Hockey East final four.
Now they stand two wins away from earning an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The final stretch to fulfilling that ultimate goal begins with a conference semifinal at 7:35 p.m. Thursday against Maine (22-7-6), seeded second and ranked No. 3 nationally.
“Being the lowest seed, playing with nothing to lose, playing our game,” Northeastern sophomore goaltender Cameron Whitehead says of the unlikely dynamic driving his team’s resurgence. “We’re all having fun and we’re not stressed about the moment or anything. We know what we’ve got to do and we know the pressure is on them at the end of the day.”
The Huskies failed to beat Maine (22-7-6) in three meetings this season, going 0-2-1 while being outscored, 9-4.
But those games were played in October and January. Much has changed for the Huskies since then — especially in the past week.
They opened the tournament with a 3-2 win at eighth-seeded Merrimack on a double-overtime goal by sophomore Dylan Hryckowian. Then they upset top-ranked BC 3-1 on 30 saves by Whitehead along with 20 blocked shots by his teammates.
The winner advances to the Friday night Hockey East final at TD Garden against third-seeded Boston University or fourth-seeded Connecticut.
LET'S PACK THE GARDEN!!!GA tickets are on sale now: https://t.co/D7QjlBsPjGStudents, please check your NU email for more ticket information. pic.twitter.com/H7Ku2almFk— Northeastern Men’s Hockey (@GoNUmhockey) March 17, 2025
LET'S PACK THE GARDEN!!!GA tickets are on sale now: https://t.co/D7QjlBsPjGStudents, please check your NU email for more ticket information. pic.twitter.com/H7Ku2almFk
The Huskies may draw confidence from their familiarity with TD Garden, where Northeastern has earned championships in five of the past seven Beanpots.
“Knowing that we can win in that building definitely helps a lot,” says junior forward Cam Lund, who contributed to Northeastern Beanpot titles in 2023 and ’24.
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Lund’s second-period goal at BC (his team-leading 17th goal this season) opened the scoring in the semifinal. Freshman Joe Connor — described by Northeastern coach Jerry Keefe as a future All-American — made it 2-0 minutes later.
“Our whole game plan was getting out of the first period 0-0 and then going from there,” Lund says. “Getting the first one for us was huge. And then Joe Connor getting the next one a few shifts later, it gave us a ton of momentum.”
The Huskies devoted this season to working in 15 new players (nine freshmen) while playing one of the nation’s toughest schedules. The frustrating losses — including eight of their last 10 games prior to the tournament — proved that they must play a disciplined and physical style in order to extend their season.
“It’s probably hard to play that way all the time,” Keefe says. “Maybe when you’re playing opponents that aren’t BC … or BU, maybe we didn’t commit to the way that we have to play and play the right way consistently, and that’s why we were losing a lot of one-goal games.”
But the lessons of the regular season weren’t lost on Keefe’s players.
“When you talk about doing things the right way all the time, it’s instilled in their brains,” Keefe says. “And this is when you need to be playing that detailed and connected hockey and focus on all the little things that you know win periods and win games for you.”
Whitehead was among those Huskies experiencing a midseason funk when Keefe benched him briefly last month.
“He was probably stuck in a rut there for a little bit where the consistency wasn’t there — he knew it,” Keefe says. “I have such a high regard for the goaltender. I know what his ceiling is and I know how good he is. So for me it was trying to find different ways to get him to the level that he’s capable of playing.
“He has got himself going now. You can’t win this time of year without great goaltending. We have a great goaltender and lately he’s been playing really, really well.”
Keefe has been inspired by his players’ support for one another, whether they’re celebrating every blocked shot from the bench or making the most of each practice.
“They’re getting their work in but you can see they’re having a lot of fun doing it together, which is awesome to see as a coach,” Keefe says. “Because they know, when you play at the Garden, that means you earned it. Not everyone gets to go there. To advance you’ve got to earn it. And this group has earned it.”