Men’s Hockey Closes Regular Season at No. 8/10 Endicott Monday

BOSTON – The Suffolk men's hockey team caps off its regular season on the road Monday, Feb. 20 when the Rams visit No. 8/10 Endicott. Game time at Raymond J. Bourque Arena is scheduled for 2:50 p.m.  

SOCIALIZE
Stay up-to-date with all the latest news and notes on Suffolk Athletics by connecting with the Rams on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Be sure to use the hashtag #RamNation for an insider's look at Suffolk's teams and student-athletes.

LAST TIME OUT
Suffolk men's hockey sophomore LJ Fellows' equalizer with 6:22 remaining in regulation lifted Suffolk to a 3-3 Commonwealth Coast Conference tie with Johnson & Wales Saturday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Rink.     

MORE READING: Men's Hockey Secures CCC Point in 3-3 Tie with JWU

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
With one game left on the regular season schedule, Suffolk (7-12-5) sits in a tie for seventh place in the CCC standings with 11 points on a 4-10-3 league ledger. Defeating or tying the Gulls would punch the Rams ticket to the CCC post-season, while dropping the contest and the blue-and-gold's fate falls into the fate of Western New England's Tuesday night game at Wentworth. 

Suffolk's offense has picked up as of late, scoring 13 goals in the last five contest, two of which the Rams won. Over the five-game stretch, 18 different Rams recorded a point led by five points on three scores and two assists by freshman Brian Brooks. 

Overall, Suffolk's 2.33 goals per outing is boosted by sophomore Tommy Bishop (5g, 11a) with classmates Justin Holliday (5g, 5a), Connor Parent (6g, 4a) and senior Danyil Medvedev (4g, 6a) each contributing 10 points apiece. 

Will Ribas was a crucial ingredient to the Rams earning a point Saturday night with a 26-save relief effort in 56-plus minutes of action in net for the freshman's first result of his collegiate career. Rivas has played in just five games with senior Kevin Venturoso (.899%, 3.38 GAA) and sophomore Michael Levine (.894%, 3.79 GAA) seeing the majority of action in between the pipes this season for the Rams.  

GET TO KNOW THE GULLS
Endicott, who is 19-3-2 overall and 13-3-1 against conference competition, clinched the CCC regular season title Saturday night with a convincing 6-0 win over Becker. The Gulls are undefeated in the month of February and carry an eight-game win streak into Monday's meeting. 

The regular season champion puts together a powerful offense of 4.88 goals per game behind seven different skaters producing double figures in goals alone led by 16 from Ross Olsson. Tommy Besinger is crucial in setting up the Gulls offense with the sophomore forward dishing out 27 assists and finding the back of the net to lead the team and the league in points with 41. 

Kevin Aldridge has played all, but three games in between the posts for Endicott. The junior goaltender holds a 1.84 GAA with a .939 save percentage.  

WE MEET AGAIN
The Suffolk men's hockey team pulled within one with 48 seconds remaining in regulation, but could not could complete the comeback as Endicott beat the Rams, 3-2, in CCC action at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Rink Nov. 19   

MORE READING: Men's Hockey Comes Up Short Against Endicott, Falls 3-2

INSIDE THE SERIES
Suffolk and Endicott are in just the second year of their all-time meetings and have met three times on the ice. The Gulls own the only victory, a 6-3 decision last season, while the other two contests ended in a stalemate 

EYES ON THE GAME

HENRY COLLECTS CCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Connor Henry played a big role in the Suffolk men's hockey 4-3 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) win over the University of New England Saturday night en route to picking up CCC Player of the Week honors the league office announced Monday afternoon. 

MORE READING: Henry Collects CCC Player of the Week 

SHUTOUT
Kevin Venturoso turned aside 28 pucks Saturday night at Becker to record his first collegiate shutout. He is the first Suffolk netminder to tally a cleansheet since Michael Levine blanked Becker Feb. 13, 2016. Just three games later the senior did it again with a 23-save effort against Wentworth. 

SERIES SWEEP
For the first time since 2009, Suffolk swept the regular-season series versus Wentworth. The Rams took the first meeting versus the Leopards, 2-1, Nov. 12, and shutout WIT 1-0 Feb. 2. 

CLEANSHEETS
For the first time since 2007-08, Suffolk has two shutout victories as the Rams blanked Becker, 3-0, Jan. 21, and recorded a 1-0 victory over Wentworth Feb. 2. 

ONE-GOAL GAMES
Suffolk landed on the right side of a one-goal game thanks to Luke Miller's first period marker versus Wentworth Feb. 2. The 1-0 victory over the Leopards marks the first time that the Rams won a 1-0 game since downing Becker 1-0 Feb. 13, 2016. 

HATS OFF
In his Suffolk debut Jackson Tucker registered a hat trick showing, scoring all three of Suffolk's goals in the 3-0 win at Becker. Tucker, the first Ram to pot three pucks in one game since Stanton Turner did so in a 7-2 win over the Hawks Nov. 11, 2014, grabbed CCC Player of the Week accolades for his three-goal game performance. 

MORE READING: Tucker Grabs CCC Player of the Week 

FROZEN FENWAY
Thursday, Jan. 5 will go inside Suffolk men's hockey record books as the Rams took the ice at legendary Fenway Park apart of the Capital One Frozen Fenway 2017. 

MORE READING: Men's Hockey Holds Intersquad Scrimmage at Frozen Fenway

SHORT-HANDED
Luke Miller's first goal of the season came in short-handed fashion at Western New England Nov. 10. The junior forward is the first Ram to net a man-down score since Justin Selep '16 put one away in a 5-2 win at Nichols Jan. 16, 2016. 

CCC FROZEN FIRST
Simon 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 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. 

CCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tommy Bishop of the Suffolk men's hockey team will go down in history as the first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Week as the sophomore grabbed the initial award of the inaugural season after a career opening night, the conference office announced Oct. 31.

MORE READING: Bishop Grabs First-Ever CCC Player of the Week Nod

UP NEXT
Suffolk awaits the decision of the WNEC and Wentworth Tuesday contest for seeding of the CCC tournament.