Men’s Hockey Handles Johnson & Wales, 6-2, in Military Appreciation Game

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – A pair of Rams produced three points in Griffin Clark and Shawn Montgomery and to propel Suffolk men's hockey past Johnson & Wales, 6-2, Friday night in a Military Appreciation Game at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Johnson & Wales 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-10-2, 2-7-2 NEHC) | Johnson & Wales (3-15-0, 0-11-0 NEHC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
A scoring frenzy hit Suffolk 8:44 into the action and spanned 1:02 to give the hosts a hefty three-goal advantage early on.  

Nick Lachaine was the first Ram to find the of the back netting. Montgomerybrought the puck deep into the Wildcats zone, swept a pass from behind the net to Lachaine, who was out in front, and the freshman caught Jeremy Skaife off guard to open the scoring.  

Alex Kolowrat was the next Suffolk skater to score. From the left face-off dot, Griffin won the battle, Kolowrat picked up the puck and one-timed it away.  

Seventeen seconds later Griffin became the scorer. The freshman was set up by Joe Vingi and Max Rand to make it 3-0 blue-and-gold game at the 9:44 minute mark of the first frame.   

JWU made a change between the pipes with Mike Camasso taking over for Skaife. The new netminder was no match for the hot hands of Suffolk as it extended matters to four on its second power play of the day. Eleven seconds into the man-up opportunity, Montgomery made a move through the Wildcats defense to push the distance to four with an unassisted strike with 4:50 left in the opening period.  

A quick turn of events came 41 seconds later as Johnson & Wales eliminated the shutout when Graham Day set up Anthony Scarcella to slice the gap back to three, 4-1.  

Penalties late in the first frame and early in the slowed Suffolk down to keep the three-goal game intact at the midway point of the middle period.  

As time ticked on, both sides saw chances on the power play. The Rams managed to keep the Wildcats at bay on their penalty kill before cashing in on a 5-on-3 opportunity. Miller Rubin used a feed from Billy Roche to regain a fourth-goal lead at the 15:19 minute mark. 

Rubin's first goal of the season was the only strike in the second period and the Wildcats cut the gap down 9:18 into the third when Matt Gulack and Austin Withycombe assisted Jake Glod to trim the Rams cushion to three, 5-2.  

Montgomery's second goal of the evening came 1:21 later to lengthen Suffolk's lead back to four.  

Once again penalties played a factor in the second half of the final period and the 6-2 score stood in the Rams' favor at the end of regulation.

NETMINDER NOTES

• Cal Wilcox secured 19 saves to improve to 4-6-2 on the season. 
• Jeremy Skaife suffered the setback after letting in three of the seven shots he faced in the first 9:46 of action. 
• Mike Camasso registered 22 stops in 50:14 of relief effort.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Montgomery and Griffin each had three points. The former's came off a pair of goals and one helper, with the latter's stat line a mirror image of the sophomore's. 
• Kolowrat, Lachaine and Rubin each provided one goal. 
• Lowe, Rand, Roche and Vingi all dished out one assist. 
• Suffolk commanded shots, 32-21, and face offs 46-34.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk skated in appreciation of the military for the second straight season. 
• The Rams won their fourth straight contest against Johnson & Wales to move to 9-22-3 all-time against the Wildcats. 
• Montgomery notched a personal-best in points (3) and goals (2). 
• Griffin matched a career-high in goals (1), points (3) and assists (2).  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up the series with Johnson & Wales tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 25 when the Rams visit Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, for a 4 p.m. puck drop.