Men’s Hockey Outlasts Western New England, 4-3

EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's hockey ended an eight-game skid and picked up its first Commonwealth Coast Conference victory of the season with a 4-3 triumph over Western New England Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Western New England 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-9-0, 1-6-0 CCC) | Western New England (2-7-1, 1-5-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Gavin Havens won a faceoff in the Rams zone and the freshman zoomed down the sheet towards the Golden Bears goalie, Andrew LoRusso. The rookie took the puck behind the cage dished it in front where it skipped off Devin Lowe's stick and found Scott McManus for a one-timer that gave Suffolk the 1-0 edge at the midway point of the first frame.  

Suffolk doubled the distance 4:07 minutes into the middle period. Jack Kircher snipped a shot from the blue line. On its way to the net, the puck connected with Ryan Webb's stick and found its way past LoRusso to stretch the advantage to 2-0 Rams.  

The blue-and-gold lengthened its lead to three 1:33 later thanks to Nick Liotino's goal from the blue line at the xxx mark. Josh Milso and Tyler Borys helped pad the margin to three. 

Western New England eliminated the shutout at 10:04 in the second when Brayden Patricia won the face off and took the shot himself, which caught Chris Jackson off guard and put the Golden Bears on the board. 

Things got interesting 6:52 into the third as Everest Schenider's breakaway made it a one-goal game. A long rebound slid to Liotino on the blue line on the right side of the rink. The puck got away from Suffolk's freshman and Schenider outskat4ed the Ram to pick it up for a one-on-one with Jackson that ended in WNE's favor to make it 3-2 with 13 minutes remaining in regulation.  

Insurance came for Suffolk on the power play as Jake Grace put the puck away from just inside the blue line. The rookie and his classmates Havens and McManus worked the puck around the zone waiting for the right opportunity, which Grace found at the 11:53 mark to restore the two-goal margin, 4-2.  

That gap was short lived; however, the Golden Bears got that goal back to keep the Rams on the defense the rest of the way. Off a face off, Rais Francis quickly fired from the blue line to turn it into a 4-3 game with 4:37 left in the third period. Finn Bambery assisted on the goal that was set-up by Patricia's face off win. 

Suffolk stood up to the challenge even when the Golden Bears pulled LoRusso from his post from between the pipes and Milso sat in the bin for delay of game causing a 6-on-4 for WNE with 1:42 to go in regulation.  The pair of crucial blocks, three saves by Jackson and dominate face off play by Havens and Lowe locked up the win for the Rams.   

NETMINDER NOTES

• Jackson had 26 saves in the victory. 
• LoRusso registered 44 stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• McManus supplied one goal and one assist. 
• Havens had two points as well, both on assists. 
• Grace, Liotino and Webb all notched one goal apiece. 
• Akermark, Borys Kircher, Lowe and Milso dished out one assist each. 
• Suffolk commanded the pace of play, dominating shots, 48-29, and face offs, 43-31. 
• The Rams went 1-for-3 on the power play and successfully skated four penalty kills. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Since 2000, Suffolk is now 24-14-15 against Western New England. 
• The Rams defeated the Golden Bears for the first time since Jan. 27, 2023, a 4-1 decision in Eastie. 
• Suffolk is 13-6-1 when hosting WNE since 2000. 
• In the Shawn McEachern era, the Rams moved to 2-1-1 versus the Golden Bears. 
• Jackson produced his first collegiate win. 
• McManus recorded his first collegiate goal and assist. 
• Grace scored the first goal of his collegiate career.  
• Kircher logged his first collegiate point on an assist. 
• Borys and Akermark dished out their first assists of the season. 
• Milso handed out his second helper of the year.
• Havens finished with a career-high in points (2) and assists (2).
• Webb scored his second goal of the campaign. 
• Lowe registered his seventh assist of the season. 
• Liotino found the back of the net for the fourth time in his collegiate career.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk and Western New England are in store for a rematch tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 2 at the Olympia Ice Center in Springfield, Massachusetts, at 7 p.m.