EAST BOSTON – Powered by three goals over 47 seconds in the second period, Suffolk men's ice hockey handled Nichols, 6-2, in Conference of New England (CNE) play Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. Fourteen (14) different Rams provided a point in the offensive output.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | Nichols 2
RECORD: Suffolk (11-7-1, 11-3-1 CNE) | Nichols (7-11-0, 4-9-0 CNE)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Nick Liotino took a shot that went wide, and Tristan Kimmen picked up the rebound. He quickly dished ahead to Gavin Duckworth at center ice. Duckworth set-up a 2-on-1 with Aaron Hamel and as the fans in Eastie heard JP Giuliotti announced one minute to play in the first period, Hamel lit the lamp to give the Bison a 1-0 edge at the first intermission.
- Nichols' Gianluca Guarnieri was sent to the sin bind for five minutes for hitting from behind at the 3:30 mark of the second stanza and a Suffolk scoring frenzy ensued. The Rams poured in four goals, three on the power play in 47 seconds, to take a 4-1 cushion. The blue-and-gold goal scorers were Bobby Lachance, Josh Milso, Aidan O'Connell and Joe O'Brien.
- The Bison buried another late tally, this time with 50 seconds left on the clock, to trim the deficit down to a pair, 4-2, as the conference counterparts went to the locker room for the second time. CJ Zezima caused a Rams' turnover in Suffolk's own zone and found a wide-opener Jeremy Tremblay for an easy strike.
- The offensive output continued to pour in for the blue-and-gold as Owen Hodgett put away his career first 4:30 into the final frame. Alex Ondos helped set-up the milestone strike after Scott McManus won the face-off in the Bison's zone.
- Daniel McKiernan put an exclamation point on the victory with an empty netter in the final 35 seconds.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Austin McNicholas registered the win with a 31-save effort.
- Liam Choquett recorded 34 stops in the setback.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Milso, Hodgett, McKiernan, O'Brien, O'Connell and Lachance were responsible for Suffolk's scores with one each.
- McManus, Ondos and Webb logged two helpers each.
- Liotino, Dimitri Voyatzis, Marko Giourof, and Leonard tallied one assist apiece.
NOTEWORTHY
- The Rams have stretched their win streak to five games, the most wins in a row since stringing five victories together Feb. 6-21, 2010.
- Suffolk took down Nichols for the second straight meeting to move to 31-26-7 in the all-time series.
- The Rams are unbeaten, 2-0-2, in the last four meetings with the Bison.
- The blue-and-gold has outscored Nichols, 10-2, over the last two games.
- Suffolk is now 17-16-3 at home versus Nichols.
- Under head coach Shawn McEachern the Rams are 3-4-2 against Nichols.
- The six goals scored are the most for Suffolk versus the Bison since pouring in six in a 6-3 triumph Nov. 11, 2022.
- Hodgett scored his first collegiate goal.
- Giourof (3g, 6a) and O'Connell (6, 5a) lengthened their point streaks to six games.
- Voyatzis has registered a point in the last three games. He has one goal and two handouts in that stretch.
- Lachance (1g, 1a), McManus (1g, 2a), McKiernan (2g, 1a), Milso (1g, 1a) and Ondos (3a) have produced at least one point in back-to-back games
- McManus and Webb matched their personal-best two assists.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to keep its winning ways going tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 31 when it takes its talents to Harrisville, Rhode Island to close out the series with the Bison at 3:40 p.m.