Men’s Ice Hockey Secures Series Sweep, Skates by JWU, 4-1

EAST BOSTON – Behind four different goal scorers, Suffolk men's ice hockey defeated Johnson & Wales, 4-1, Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. The win clinched the Conference of New England (CNE) home-and-home series sweep for the blue-and-gold. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Johnson & Wales 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (10-7-1, 10-3-1 CNE) | Johnson & Wales (6-9-1, 4-7-0 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Suffolk capitalized on a power play late in the first frame to start the scoring. Scott McManus managed to find the back of the net on a rebound off an initial Jake Grace attempted that was denied and tipped by Alex Ondos. 
• The distance doubled 49 seconds into the middle period. The puck was jammed against the boards and Bobby Lachance and Michael Gallagher managed to win the scrum and kick the puck out to Daniel McKiernan for an easy score that gave Suffolk a 2-0 edge. 
• Brad Crook eliminated the shutout for Johnson & Wales as he turned a steal into an unassisted tally at the 12:18 mark of the second frame. 
• Suffolk tacked on two more tallies in the final period for the 4-1 final. Aidan O'Connell found the back of the net first 2:46 into the third, while Dimitri Voyatzis put an exclamation point on the victory with 1:19 remaining in regulation.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Austin McNicholas earned the decision has he compiled a .952 save percentage with 20 saves to his credit. 
• Maxim Zinchenko took the setback despite a 40-save performance. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• McKiernan had a multi-point night with one goal and one assist. 
• McManus, O'Connell and Voyatiz were responsible for one goal each. 
• Grace tallied two helpers. 
• Marko Giourof, Lachance, Gallagher, Josh Milso and Ondos all had one assist apiece. 
• Suffolk outshot Johnson & Wales, 44-21. 
• The Wildcats were more successful at the face-off dot, 39-34. 
• The Rams went 1-for-5 on the power play. 
• The blue-and-gold's defense blocked 12 shots compared to JWU's 10. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk men's hockey reached double-digit wins for the second straight season. 
• It is the first time since 2007-08 that the Rams have recorded double-digit league victories. That year, Suffolk went 10-6-0 versus conference counterparts in the ECAC Northeast. 
• The blue-and-gold has now won five in a row versus JWU to move to 13-23-4 all-time in the series. 
• At home, Suffolk now sits 6-12-3 against the Wildcats. 
• The Rams remain unbeaten 5-0-0 against JWU under Shawn McEachern's guidance.
• McKiernan had his third multi-point game of the season. 
• Ondos stretched his point streak to five games. In that span he has five goals and five assists. 
• Voyatzis has produced a point in back-to-back games. 
• Grace logged a personal-best two assists and tied a career-high two points. 
• Giourof has at least one point in the last five games. Over that stretch he has recorded four strikes and five set-ups.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
A home-and-home series with Nichols is in store for Suffolk next weekend. The Rams will host the Bison Friday, Jan. 30 at 6:00 p.m., and head to Harrisville, Rhode Island to close the series Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3:40 p.m.