Men’s Hockey Wins Barn Burner Against Nichols, 6-5

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – In an outing that featured 11 goals and 17 penalties, Suffolk men's hockey came out on top, 6-5, over Nichols Saturday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Nichols 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (3-8-2, 3-6-2 CCC) | Nichols (3-11-1, 2-11-0 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
It was an action packed first frame as four goals were put on the board. Suffolk scored three in a row, before the Bison responded, to put the Rams in front by a pair, 3-1, at the first intermission.  

Olle Akermark opened the scoring at the 6:02 minute mark on the power play with help from Billy Roche and Griffin Clark. Ryan Harrigan found the back of the twine 57 seconds later with help from Shawn Montgomery and Joe Feeney, before Feeney put his own puck away with just over six minutes left on the clock in the opening period. Feeney's goal, that was assisted by Harrigan and Montgomery, made it a 3-0 Suffolk.  

Gabe Temple eliminated the shutout as he put Nichols on the board with an unassisted marker at the 17:24 minute mark for the 3-1 score as the teams headed to the locker room for the first time.  

The second stanza was filled with nearly as many goals as the first. Suffolk wasted no time extending its lead as Peter Nugent scored 55 seconds out of the intermission to push the edge to three. That lead did not last long as Curtis Carlson responded with a power play goal to restore the two-goal gap, 4-2. 

Max Rand etched his name on the scoresheet with a goal at the 16:34 minute mark. The junior's first strike of the year extended Suffolk's cushion back to three, 5-2, at the end of the second period. 

Neither team let their skates off the gas pedal in the third as Nichols needed a comeback and Suffolk wanted to drive the win home. 

Both teams scored with Suffolk on the penalty kill. First, Griffin Clark lit the lamp, his shorthanded goal came 1:33 into the finale frame, while Daniel Barry found the back of the net for the Bison 1:35 later to keep the distance at three goals. 

Nichols managed to couple back-to-back goals together for the first time on the night when Carlson tucked his second of the evening away five minutes after Barry. Both power play goals kept Ram Nation on the edge of its seats as Suffolk's cushion shrank to two, 6-4, with just under 12 minutes to go in regulation. 

Carlson kept the hero cap on the for Bison as he completed his hat trick with 3:56 left on the clock to trim down the margin to one, 6-5. 

Cal Wilcox stood up the task down the stretch even when Nichols pulled Tyler Bost from his post to get the extra skater to preserve the victory for the Rams. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Wilcox finished with 21 saves. 
• Bost logged 22 stops.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Suffolk's six goals came off six different sticks. 
• Clark, Feeney and Harrigan had identical one-goal, one-assist stat lines. 
• Montgomery and Roche both handed out two assists. 
• Akermark, Nugent and M. Rand all netted one goal. 
• Donahue and Lachaine both set-up one strike. 
• Suffolk outshot Nichols, 28-26. 
• The Bison out did the Rams in face-offs, 43-38. 
• Suffolk went 1-for-8 on the power play, while Nichols capitalized on 50.0 percent (3-6) of its man-up chances.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk's six goals are the most strikes this season by the Rams and the most goals since the blue-and-gold scored that number in a 6-2 win over Johnson & Wales Jan. 24, 2020. 
• Suffolk improved to 27-22-4 all-time against Nichols. 
• The Rams defeated the Bison for the first time since defeating Nichols, 5-3, Feb. 28, 2021. 
• Suffolk moved to 14-14-2 as the home team against Nichols. 
• The blue-and-gold put away its fourth shorthanded strike of the season. 
• Akermark, who scored his first collegiate goal yesterday at Nichols, has netted a marker in back-to-back outings.  
• Harrigan had a personal-best two points. 
• Feeney matched a career-high two points.  
• Donahue (1), Montgomery (2) and Roche (2) matched a career-high in handouts.  
• Lachaine has contributed one handout in the last two games.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

LOOKING AHEAD
Suffolk will venture to Western New England Wednesday, Jan. 26 for a 12:30 p.m. CCC clash.