Men’s Hockey Defeats Franklin Pierce, 4-2, to Start Second Semester

EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's hockey started the second portion of its 2022-23 schedule in the win column as the Rams skated past Franklin Pierce, 4-2, Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Franklin Pierce 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-7-2) | Franklin Pierce (8-8-0) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
The first frame was scoreless and penalty absent, while the second stanza was action packed.  

Franklin Pierce started things off with the first goal of the night off Matt Horan's stick 3:17 into the middle period. Devin Rohrich and Stephen Jacobs assisted on the marker that put the Rams in a 1-0 hole.  

After the teams traded penalties, Suffolk saw its first real chance on its second power play of the night. Will MacNeil won a battle on the boards, found Griffin Clark at the left of the cage, who slipped a pass over to a waiting Peter Nugent on Brogan MacDonald's glove side. Nugent's one-timer slid past the netminder to level the playing field at the 16:48 mark. 

The Rams did not have to wait long to get another opportunity as they went on the power play 18 seconds later. Just 29 seconds into the man-up chance, Phil Decresce fired a slap shot from the point that was no match for MacDonald and sent Suffolk out in front, 2-1. Ryan Webb and Nugent set-up the power play, go-ahead goal.  

Suffolk's defense stepped up big in the third period as it successfully skated off a 5-minute major penalty that started 7:28 into the frame.  

With less than five minutes to go in regulation, Suffolk used a give-and-go featuring a highlight-reel pass by Clark capped off Devin Lowe's first goal of his senior season padded the blue-and-gold's advantage to a pair at the 15:57 mark.  

Franklin Pierce made up the ground Lowe built with 1:12 left in regulation when Dom Norris lit the lamp with help from Jackson Dobek. 

The Ravens continuously pulled MacDonald from in between the posts hoping the extra skater would give them an edge to lock things up. 

The empty net ended up paying off for the Rams instead as Webb netted the puck with 44 seconds left on the clock to secure the 4-2 victory for Suffolk.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Cal Wilcox registered 27 saves in the victory. 
• MacDonald notched 25 stops in the setback. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Nugent and Webb finished with two points apiece behind identical one-goal, one-assist stat lines. 
• Griffin had two points as well, on a pair of helpers. 
• Decresce and Lowe recorded one goal each. 
• MacNeil notched one handout. 
• Suffolk and Franklin Pierce both took 29 shots. 
• The Ravens won the face-off battle, 38-31.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Franklin Pierce renewed a rivalry, meeting for the first time since Nov. 1, 2019. 
• The Rams improved to 14-5-2 over the Ravens with their third straight victory in the series. 
• MacNeil dished out the first assist of his collegiate career. 
• Lowe produced his first goal of the season. 
• Decresce and Nugent potted their second goals of the year, while Webb logged his third. 
• Clark matched a career-high two assists. 
• Nugent and Webb both tied a personal-best two points.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will tangle with Salem State in a non-conference tilt Tuesday, Jan. 10 at 7 p.m.