The No. 12 Northeastern men’s hockey team (10-5, 5-3 HE) split the weekend with University of Massachusetts Amherst (9-9, 2-6 HE), winning 3-2 in overtime and losing 2-0 Dec. 6 and 7, respectively.

The battles on both days were physical, but the Huskies kept their patience and were able to take advantage in the first game. However, they could not find the back of the net on the second night.

“Big win for the group,” said head coach Jerry Keefe in a Dec. 6 press conference. “You know, [it’s] never easy when you give up a lead like that. But with that being said, I thought we stayed positive there. We didn’t get away from it. The bench was great. Our kill at the end of the game was really big for us … I thought we played a full 64 minutes tonight. I thought [junior goaltender Lawton Zacher] was really good. But I thought we defended really well in front of them.”

Freshman forward Jacob Mathieu scored the first goal of the weekend with 13 minutes left in the first period.

UMass took a “too many men on the ice” team penalty, giving Northeastern a power play. Senior defenseman and captain Vinny Borgesi sent the puck inside the mess at the crease from inside the blue line, where Mathieu was able to tip the puck inside the net with two seconds left in the advantage.

With nine minutes left in the period, freshman forward Matthew Maltais was sent to the sin bin for hooking. Less than a minute into Northeastern’s disadvantage, senior defenseman Austen May was called for high sticking, putting UMass up two players. Northeastern proved why it is ranked seventh in the country on penalty kills, as the team ended both power plays with no dents to the scoreboard.

The Huskies dominated the beginning of the period — with the shot count being 10 to three — but as the clock wound down, the Minuteman became more aggressive, bringing the count closer at 12 to 10.

The Minutemen came out of the first intermission more aggressively as they fought to tie the game.

Zacher had big saves throughout the night, including one that bounced off his shoulder in a breakaway for UMass.

“I like the way he played tonight,” Keefe said. “You know, they do a good job with their guy at the net front. So, you know, I thought he was finding ways to fight through to find those pucks in traffic. And he played on his toes all night. And he gave us, obviously, an opportunity to win that game.”

With 29 seconds left in the period, UMass freshman forward Jack Galanek was called for interference, meaning that the Huskies would begin the final 20 minutes with an advantage.

Nine minutes into the third period, Galanek was sent to the sin bin again, this time for hooking.

Twenty seconds into the power play, Borgesi slung a shot into the net, doubling the Huskies’ lead. His patience was key to the execution and success.

“The first thing I think of on that second goal was just watching him in all the extra skill sessions and all the time he puts into working on stuff like that,” said Keefe. “So, it’s really fun … Vinny’s one of the top players in the country for a reason. And he obviously had a huge impact on our power play tonight and our 5-on-5, obviously, in PK. So, happy for him.”

UMass sophomore forward Cam Dunn cut the lead in half for his first career goal, beating Zacher to poke it in on his left.

With a minute and 40 seconds to go, the Minutemen pulled their goalie, junior Michael Hrabal, for an extra skater. This proved to be successful, as junior forward Jack Musa claimed the equalizer.

As tensions rose between the teams, sophomore forward Joe Connor was sent to the box for tripping with a minute and 16 seconds left in the game. Luckily for the Huskies, sophomore defenseman Francesco Dell’Elce also found his own way to the box for tripping with 11 seconds remaining, sending the game to overtime.

Overtime began with the normal 3-on-3, with Connor and Dell’elce both being released from the box to make the game 4-on-4.

Northeastern was cautious in overtime as both previous overtime plays ended in losses. Junior forward Dylan Hryckowian received a pass from senior defenseman Dylan Finlay on the Huskies’ end of the ice and drove through the neutral zone into UMass territory. Hryckowian bounced the puck off the wall back to himself to get around a Minuteman and spun into the left faceoff circle toward the net. He faked a shot before actually shooting on the far end of the net, winning the game 3-2.

“We hit some adversity tonight, and I really liked how we responded to the adversity,” Keefe said. “We give up the tying goal … They tie the game, right? It’s easy for us to feel sorry for ourselves.Then, we take a penalty at the end of the game, and we were able to stick to it and get that kill, and I thought that was huge for our group.”

Northeastern has played two games with overtime before this weekend. The first with the University of Connecticut Nov. 15 and then with Boston University Nov. 22 The team lost both games — which were plagued by turnovers — in overtime.

“We haven’t had much luck in overtime this year. So for us to get an overtime win, sometimes overtime wins are more important than winning 5-0,” Keefe said.

The next night, the Huskies faced the same team but a different goaltender. The night before, the team faced Hrabal, and Sunday, it faced junior Jackson Irving. Irving was the difference in the games, and Northeastern was unable to tap the puck past him.

The first 20 minutes did not see goals from either team, but there were penalties. The tension from the night before creeped into the second game, with the pushing and trash talk between players starting earlier.

“You play the same team in the same rink two days in a row, that stuff builds pretty quickly … Right off the bat, it got a little heated, but that seemed to die down pretty quick after they got the misconduct,” said UMass head coach Greg Carvel.

Two Huskies and two Minutemen were sent to the box in the first period. In the rest of the game, only two Minutemen were sent to the sin bin.

A big hit on sophomore defenseman Jack Henry got Northeastern’s players on and off the ice, the crowd, and Keefe loud.

“I didn’t like it at all. I didn’t like it at all. Just keep it at that,” said Keefe in the press conference after the game.

After getting up slowly and going to the bench, Henry returned to the game.

UMass scored its first goal of the night 33 seconds into the second period, courtesy of sophomore forward Mikey DeAngelo.

DeAngelo received a drop off pass from freshman forward Lukáš Klečka at the right faceoff circle, then sniped the puck into the top left of the net over Zacher’s shoulder.

With 13 minutes left in the final period, the Huskies were outshooting the Minutemen 25 to 12.

“I thought we had some pretty good looks, but we just couldn’t find those pucks around the net, the second chances,” Keefe said.

Despite having the three power plays, Northeastern could not capitalize the way it did the night before.

“I thought we had looks,” said Keefe. “I thought in the second period, we had some good looks. We hit the post, [freshman forward Giacomo Martino] hit the post and then [Hryckowian] had one on the backside. [Irving] made a good save on that … they didn’t go in for us tonight. It was one of those nights.”

With a minute and 15 seconds to go, Northeastern pulled Zacher for an extra skater, hoping to find the equalizer. Unfortunately, freshman forward Václav Nestrašil cleared the puck and sunk an empty netter, ending the game 2-0.

Northeastern will play its final game in Matthews Arena against Boston University Saturday, Dec. 13. The Huskies faced the Terriers Nov. 21 and 22, splitting the weekend. With this being the last game in the historic arena, there will be added pressure on the team to dominate its last matchup on true home ice.