WNEC Tops Suffolk, 6-5

Sophomore Blake Lucier's (Scarborough, Maine) goal 8:36 into the third period proved to be the game-winner that lifted Western New England to a 6-5 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Suffolk Thursday evening at Steriti Rink.

The visiting Golden Bears (5-10-1, 2-3 ECAC Northeast) rallied from a 4-3 deficit entering the final stanza to take a 5-4 lead on markers off the sticks of freshmen John Kelly (Long Island, N.Y.) and Brian Prost (Parma, Ohio) that came 1:36 apart early in the frame, but the host Rams (5-10, 1-4 ECAC Northeast) evened matters less than three minutes later on senior Zach Barron's (St. Louis, Mo.) power play goal.  Lucier then netted the deciding tally nearly two-and-a-half minutes later with an unassisted marker from the right side, and that score held up over the final 11-plus minutes of play.

Western New England grabbed a 3-1 advantage after the opening 20 minutes of play on goals off the sticks of Prost, junior Mike Kaselouskas (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and freshman Dave Tavella (East Longmeadow, Mass.), but Suffolk rallied in the middle frame with three tallies of its own from freshmen David Seidel (Greenwich, Conn.), Jon Stauffer (Landsdale, Pa.) and Chris Boyd (Milford, Mass.) to take a one-goal edge into the final stanza, setting up the visitors' heroics in the third period.

Prost and Kelly combined for three goals and three assists for six points in the win for the Golden Bears, who also received a pair of assists from freshman Chris Connors (Albany, N.Y.) as well as single helpers off the sticks of junior Rory Hansen (Noblesville, Ind.) and freshmen Dan Monahan (Monroe, N.J.), Eric Gethers (Asburn, Va.) and Cam Napolitan (East Longmeadow, Mass.).  Stauffer added two assists to go with his goal for three points in the setback for Suffolk, which also received a marker and helper from Boyd as well as single assists off the sticks of senior Paul Weisser (Longmeadow, Mass.), sophomores Jason Molle (Stoneham, Mass.), Matt Robertson (Whitman, Mass.) and Andrew Flynn (Stamford, Conn.) and freshman Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.).

Freshman Eric Sorenson (Rochester, N.Y.) picked up the win in goal for Western New England with a 41-save effort, while senior Jeff Rose (Collinsville, Conn.) made 21 stops in net in the setback for Suffolk as the Rams outshot the Golden Bears by a 46-27 margin for the contest.

Suffolk heads to Harrisville, R.I. on Saturday afternoon for an ECAC Northeast match-up with Nichols that faces off at 1:40 p.m., while Western New England hosts Johnson & Wales in an ECAC Northeast clash in Springfield, Mass. that begins at 3:35 p.m.