Men’s Ice Hockey Drops to No. 7 UNE, 7-4

EAST BOSTON, Mass. – Ten different Rams etched their name on the scoresheet, but it would not be enough as Suffolk men's ice hockey fell in a thrilling 11-goal contest to No. 7 University of New England (UNE), 7-4, on Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | University of New England 7
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-7-1, 6-3-1 CNE) | University of New England (10-4-0, 7-2-0 CNE)

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UNE struck first as a loose puck slipped between two Suffolk defenders and found a cutting Nathan Chickering. He played a quick give-and-go with Drew Olivieri, received the return pass, and finished on a breakaway to make it 1-0 at the four-minute mark.
• Suffolk answered to even the score as Daniel McKiernan converted on a breakaway. The play started with a backhanded feed from Tommy Whitford to Alex Ondos, who nudged the puck ahead to McKiernan for the finish from in close.
• The Nor'easters regained the lead following a strong hustle play by Ike Keller, who forced the puck loose and out of the defensive zone. Brayden Cook carried it up ice and slid a pass across the crease to Mike Tersoni, who went over the left blocker to make it 2-1.
• Suffolk claimed its first lead of the night with two goals in a 16-second span. Scott McManus tied the game after a Matt Pimental feed off a rebound created by a Nick Liotino shot. Moments later, Nolan Leonardintercepted a pass at the offensive blue line and moved it to Aidan O'Connell, who found CNE-leading scorer Marko Giourof in stride for the go-ahead goal and a 3-2 Suffolk edge
• The game was knotted once again before the end of the opening period as a defensive-zone miscue allowed Fernand-Olivier Perr to score at the 2:37 mark, sending the teams into the first intermission tied 3-3.
• UNE opened the second period with back-to-back goals just 1:09 apart, with tallies coming from Drew Olivieri and David Wilcox.
• Suffolk responded with a shorthanded goal as Ondos jumped a passing lane, stole the puck, and went coast-to-coast before lightly finishing one past Stefan Carney to pull the Rams within one at 5-4.
• Olivieri pushed the lead to 6-4 with a power-play slapshot at the 15:33 mark, finishing a feed from Dominic Murphy.
• Tersoni iced the contest with his second of the night with 8:59 to play to seal the 7-4 victory for the Nor'easters. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Austin McNicholas made 25 saves on the night.
• Stefan Carney and Harrison Chesney each stopped 11 shots in the contest.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING 

• Giourof, Ondos, McManus, and McKiernan tallied the goals for the Rams.
• Leonard, Whitford, Pimental, Liotino, O'Connell, and Ondos each secured one assist each.
• UNE narrowly outshot the Rams, 25-22.
  

NOTEWORTHY

• Ondos recorded his first multi-point night of the season, finishing with his second goal and fifth assist to give him seven points on the year.
• Leonard tallied his team-leading 12th assist, pushing his point total to 16 this season.
• Giourof netted his 10th goal of the season.
• McKiernan potted his eighth goal of the campaign and has now scored in back-to-back contests.
• McManus secured his fourth goal of the year.
• O'Connell added his fourth assist of the campaign. 
• Pimental and Liotino each notched their second helpers of the season.
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads into a cross-town rivalry series with Wentworth next weekend. The Rams travel Friday, Jan. 16 for a 6:30 p.m. puck drop before returning to Eastie on Saturday, Jan. 17 to host the Leopards at 6:00 p.m.