Becker Hands Men’s Hockey 3-1 Loss in Home, CCC Opener

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – The Suffolk men's hockey team played Becker even for the first two periods at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Rink Thursday night, but the Hawks tallied two third-period goals to take the Rams' inaugural CCC contest, 3-1. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1, Becker 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-1-0, 0-1-0 CCC) | Becker (1-1-0, 1-0-0 CCC)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk made its lone first frame shot on net count as Simon Leahy potted the puck on the power play to put the Rams ahead early. Late in the period, the Hawks responded thanks to a snipe from John Dutney to equalize the game at the end of the first 20 minutes. 

A scoreless second, which featured multiple 5-on-3 opportunities on both sides of the ice, triggered an exciting third period. Bucker grabbed a 2-1 lead at the midway point of the third thanks to a goal by Dylan Durham. Playing from behind and penalties putting the Rams in man-down play for the majority of the remainder of play, Suffolk made a last ditch effort pulling Michael Levine from between the pipes, but it cost them as James Wallce sealed the 3-1 win on an empty netter at 19:16. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Becker doubled Suffolk's shots on net, 25-17.
• The Rams won 48 of the conference contest's 88 faceoffs, led by Danyil Medvedev's 16-of-29 effort in the circle. 

GOALS

• With Becker's Corey Schafer sitting down for two for charging, the Rams put the pressure on the Hawks netminder Tyler Stepke. With over half the power play used up, Suffolk broke open the scoring. LJ Fellows sent the puck right into the pile in front of the net, where Leahy was waiting and tucked it away to give the blue and gold a 1-0 edge.
• As Suffolk transitioned from a penalty kill in its own zone, Kyle Godfrey won the ensuing faceoff for the Hawks and the visitors quickly evened the score at 1-all.  From just inside the left circle Dutney put away a feed from Alex Kielczewski over Suffolk goalie Michael Levine's right shoulder.
• Similar to Becker's second goal, the Hawks used another faceoff win to build momentum. After passing it around the zone, Connor Allison dished to Nicholas McKee from behind the net who found Durham on the right circle. Durham went top shelf for the go-ahead goal at 10:10 in the third.
• Wallace sealed the 3-1 fate for the Hawks with an empty net tally on assists from Corey Sherman and Nikolas Nasby.

KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS

• Levine faced 32 shots and turned away 30 in his first collegiate setback as the sophomore moved to 1-1-0 on the season.
• Stepke, meanwhile, picked up his first win of the year in between the pipes with a 16-save, one goal allowed effort. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Leahy's first goal of the season turned out to be a historic one as the senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the first player across the CCC to find the back of the netting in the on the inaugural night of play for the first-year league. Since the tally was on the power play, he added to the historics, as the forward also became the first CCC skater to put one away on the man advantage opportunity. 

POST-GAME PIC

UP NEXT
Suffolk heads out on the road Saturday, Nov. 5 for a conference contest at Salve Regina. The matchup is scheduled to get underway at 4 p.m. at Portsmouth Abbey.