Hockey Visits JWU Thursday

BOSTON – The Suffolk hockey team looks to snap a two-game skid Thursday night as the Rams stop by Johnson & Wales for a 6:45 p.m. ECAC Northeast contest.  

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LAST TIME OUT
Behind the paly of senior netminder Joel Miller and a pair of powerplay tallies, Wentworth spoiled Suffolk hockey's Senior Night, 3-1, Saturday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.  

MORE READING: Wentworth Spoils Hockey's Senior Night, 3-1

RUN DOWN ON THE RAMS

• Suffolk has dropped two straight, being outscored in those contests, 9-3. Now 12-7-2 on the year and 7-4-2 in ECAC Northeast, which is good for third place, the Rams look to make a playoff push in the hopes of securing the league's top-seeded bye.
• Justin Selep, who ranks in the top-20 national in goals (0.67 – T18) and short-handed goals (0.10 – T5) per game, leads the team in points (25) and goals (14), which rank third and second in the league, respectively. His four game-winners tie six other skaters across the country for the fourth most nationally.  
• Danyil Medvedev is second on the team and sixth in the conference with 20 points on the second-most helpers among ECAC Northeast skaters with 13.  
• Overall, 26 different Rams have recorded a point this season, with 23 tallying multiple points and seven notching double figure points. As a team, Suffolk produces the third highest offense in the league with 3.52 goals per game.  
• The Rams have called upon each goalie of their three-headed netminder machine this season.  Brandon Smolarek has been Suffolk's go-to in 18 contests with the senior producing 494 saves (.903) and allowing just 53 pucks past him (3.00 GAA). Kevin Venturoso has 84 saves to his credit, while Michael Levine has stopped 23 pucks.  

WILDCAT WAYS                                                           

• Johnson & Wales welcomes Suffolk to Rhode Island with a 9-9-3 overall mark and 5-5-2 record in ECAC Northeast play. In their last two outings, the Wildcats lost to Wentworth and Endicott, having been outscored, 8-1.
• Six Wildcats have recorded double-figure points to lead JWU's offense. Connor Bats is the biggest offensive threat in the ECAC Northeast at this point as the junior forward has put in a team and league-high 15 scores for a 21 points.  Ben Brouillard's stick has been responsible for 11 assists and 19 points, while Stefan Brucato (5-9-14) and Cody Sarmiento (3-10-13) also provided an offensive punch.
• In net, Joey Ballmer has seen all, but 80 minutes of action this season. The junior has accumulated 527 saves, while allowing 49 goals for a .915 save percentage and 2.51 goals-against average.

WE MEET AGAIN
Johnson & Wales snapped Suffolk's then seven-game unbeaten streak November 21 thanks to Jonathan Ruiz's goal with 4:13 remaining, which proved to be the game-winner, to take a 4-2 ECAC Northeast victory over the Rams.  

MORE READING: Hockey's Unbeaten Streak Snapped by JWU, 4-2

RIGHT ON, ROOKIES
The freshman class has made a significant impact for Suffolk this season. Rookie forward Justin Holliday's 14 points off seven goals and seven assists, sit third on the team. Tommy Bishop's 12 points (4-8-12) ranks fifth on the team, while his forward counterparts of Nick Mosher (4-6-10) and Connor Parent (6-2-8) round out the Rams' top 10 point earners. Brendan Heinze has scored three goals and handed out two helpers and Mikhail Bryan has three assists and one goal to his credit. Connor Henry (1-0-1), Sean Henry (0-2-2) and Dominic Rovero (0-1-1) round out the rookies with points.

As a whole, the Class of 2019 accounts for 30.9 percent of the Rams' offense with 26 goals and 30 assists. 

SHOW STOPPER
Brandon Smolarek has stood tall for Suffolk between the pipes and is a major reason why the Rams are 12-7-2 this season. The senior netminder has turned away 494 attempts, the sixth most among ECAC Northeast goalies. Smoalrek boasts a 3.00 goals-against average and .903. save percentage.

Smolarek brought his career total to 2,005 saves Saturday, a milestone that was reached by just one other Ram since 1999-00, Jeff Rose '11 who owns Suffolk's all-time saves record with 2,799.

The Chesterfield, Michigan native steered away 46 shots against Salve Regina November 4, the most by a Suffolk keeper since junior Kevin Venturoso stopped 52 attempts against Tufts January 8, 2014. 

A HEAPIN' HELPIN' OF HELPERS
The Rams have done well to spread the puck around with 14 scorers registering multiple goals, led by Justin Selep's 14 and Danyil Medvedev's and Justin Holliday's seven. On 74 total goals this season, Suffolk has racked up 110 assists, led by Medvedev's 13 and 11 from Tyler Heineman and Selep, respectively.  

GAME-WINNING GANG
Six of Suffolk's 12 game-winning goals this season have been scored by upperclassmen with the remaining three coming off the sticks of first-years. Junior Justin Selep leads the way with four, while freshman Justin Holliday has three. Junior Stanton Turner ach put in two with senior Zack Capozza, sophomore Luke Miller and freshman Nick Mosher each have game-winning scores to their credit.

NINE SCORES AND 14 YEARS AGO
For the first time in 14 years, Suffolk scored nine goals en route to a 9-5 trouncing of UMass Dartmouth January 21. Six skaters in blue-and-gold combined for the most scores by the Rams since December 4, 2002 in an 11-4 victory over Franklin Pierce. Twelve different players recorded a point to put in the most goals in the Chris Glionna era and the most tallies on the road in Suffolk history, according to the record books, which date back to the 1999-2000 season.

UP NEXT
Suffolk closes out the regular season with two contests on its home ice. The Rams will first host Becker Saturday, Feb. 13 at 7 p.m., before entertain Nichols Wednesday, Feb. 17 at 7:40 p.m.