By Jared Shafran, News Staff

Maybe it was a Thanksgiving hangover.
Despite a late push, the men’s hockey team could not complete a comeback, losing to visiting Vermont 3-2 Friday.
Matthews Arena did not include the usual Huskies faithful, as the game was played over break, and Vermont took advantage, getting ahead early.
Vermont forward Brayden Irwin was the first to light the lamp 3:28 into the first period, putting the Huskies into an early hole.
The Catamounts expanded the lead later in the period when forward Jack Downing took advantage of NU freshman goalie Chris Rawlings, who didn’t have possession of his stick.
Things turned around for the Huskies in the second period, however, as senior forward Kyle Kraemer cut the Catamounts’ lead in half just over six minutes into the period. With the goal, Kraemer extended his goal-scoring streak to four games. He now leads the team with five goals and seven points.
‘He’s been terrific,’ Huskies head coach Greg Cronin said. ‘He’s never going to be one of those guys that blows you away with speed or a real razzle-dazzle move, but he’s just reliable, he plays his position well, he’s got confidence, he knows his role on the power play and he’s getting rewarded with points.’
Kraemer said that he is trying to stay involved in the offense and play his role in the team’s system.
‘I’m trying to focus more on shooting the puck a lot, getting the puck on net, because I feel like when I shoot the puck, good things can come,’ Kraemer said.
But before the Huskies could get another goal, Vermont forward David Pacan got his second goal of the season, putting his team back on top by two.
Although freshman forward Justin Daniels pulled the Huskies within one on a nice goal halfway through the third period, the third goal was too elusive for Northeastern, and Vermont skated away with the 3-2 victory.
The loss came a week after the Huskies secured a three-point weekend after a win and tie with Providence.
In the first game of the home-and-home series, the Huskies controlled play for most of the game, pulling through with a 4-1 win.
‘For the first time this year I thought we played with discipline and smarts for 60 minutes,’ Cronin said. ‘I thought Providence had the puck a lot, but I thought we were just very smart defensively.’
After a scoreless first period, the Huskies started the second with a man advantage after a penalty was called on Providence junior defenseman Eric Baier for holding as time expired in the first.
On the ensuing power play, Kraemer took a wrist shot from the left side, which was deflected past sophomore goalie Justin Gates by junior captain and forward Tyler McNeely, jumpstarting the Huskies offense and giving them the 1-0 lead.
Less than a minute later, the Huskies pushed their lead to 2-0 after a passing play orchestrated by senior forward Chris Donovan and sophomore defenseman Drew Muench who found junior forward Wade MacLeod wide open in front for the tap in.
‘I think the power play is the catalyst for a team’s identity offensively,’ Cronin said. ‘We’re getting good looks, we just got to keep building on it.’
The following night the Friars answered each Huskies goal with one of their own and the teams finished with a 3-3 tie.
The Huskies took the lead for the second straight night six minutes in when senior forward Greg Costa notched his first goal of the season.
‘It was a big relief,’ Costa said. ‘When we’re winning, it’s not a big deal, but when we’re not winning, I feel like I’m not contributing enough. It felt good and hopefully I can just continue on from here.’
After Providence got even with a goal from sophomore defenseman Daniel New, the Huskies took the lead back when Kraemer scored another goal. This time he put the puck up high and kept his hot streak alive.
After goals by Friars forward Matt Bergland and Huskies freshman forward Garrett Vermeersch, the Huskies were looking to finish off the Friars for a second straight night and headed into the third period with a 3-2 lead.
But Providence tied the game on New’s second goal of the game, and came away from the weekend with one point.
‘I thought we were sloppy,’ Cronin said. ‘We let them tie the game up. I give them credit because they responded every time but I thought we could have put the game away on the power play when it was 3-2.’
Northeastern’s record now stands at 5-6-1 overall and the team is 3-5-1 in Hockey East play.
The Huskies will have the Merrimack Warriors this weekend for another home-and-home Hockey East series. The action starts on Friday from Lawler Arena in North Andover. where the puck drops at 7 p.m. and continues on Saturday when the Huskies return home to Matthews Arena, also starting at 7 p.m.