Women’s Hockey Makes Program Debut with Home-and-Home Series with Nichols

GAME 1: FRIDAY, OCT. 26 // 6:40 PM  LEVY RINK HARRISVILLE, R.I. LIVE STATS // VIDEO GAME 2: SATURDAY, OCT. 27 // 5:20 PM  LOUIS E. PORRAZZO MEMORIAL SKATING RINK EAST BOSTON, MASS. LIVE STATS

BOSTON – Suffolk history will be made this weekend as the inaugural women's hockey team competes for the first time with the Rams taking on the Bison of Nichols College in a home-and-home series. Suffolk will first venture to Harrisville, Rhode Island, Friday, Oct. 26 for a  6:40 p.m. game time at Levy Rink before dropping the puck in front of its home crowd the following day, Saturday, Oct. 27 at 5:20 p.m. at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.

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INAUGURAL PUCK DROP
Suffolk Athletics invites all members of Ram Nation – alumni, family, friends and fans – to celebrate the first-ever Suffolk women's hockey  home contest at Louise E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink Saturday, Oct. 27. 

Prior to the 5:20 p.m. puck drop against Nichols, Suffolk University President Marisa Kelly will drop a ceremonial puck to acknowledge the first-ever women's hockey season as well as the five sports, which were added with women's hockey in a six-sport expansion deal in the fall of 2016.

Admission is free and multiple giveaways will be handed out including rally towels, t-shirts and there will be multiple chances to win custom Suffolk hockey jerseys.

MORE INFO: Save the Date: Women's Hockey's Inaugural Home Puck Drop Oct. 27 

MEET THE RAMS
With a full year of recruiting under her belt head coach Taylor Wasylk brought in 23 fresh faces to comprise the inaugural Suffolk women's hockey team in 2018-19. For an in-depth look at the student-athletes, fans are encouraged to follow the link below and click on each of the players bitmojis to be taken to their individual bios. 

MORE READING: Women's Hockey Inaugural Season: Meet the Rams 

PUCK POSITIONS
The 23 Rams are broken down into 12 forwards, eight skaters on the blue line and a three-headed contingent in net.

CLASS RANKS
Despite it being Suffolk's first season, each class is represented on the roster. The bulk of skaters are true freshmen (17) with a quartet of sophomores to go along with one junior and senior, respectively. 

GEORGRAPHY 101
Wasylk's roster is one of the most diverse in the department when it is broken down geographically with 10 different states and three Canadian provinces represented. 

There are four Rams that call Michigan home and three from Connecticut. Four traveled cross country with a pair from both California and Colorado, respectively. Florida, Illinois, Minnesota, Rhode Island, Utah and Wisconsin are also represented, as well as six international students from Canadian. 

CROSSING BORDERS
Six players on the Suffolk scoresheet hail from nations outside of the United States. The international contingent all come from the red, white and blue's neighbor to the north, Canada. A trio of Rams call British Columbia home, with a pair from Ontario and one skater venturing to Beantown from Alberta. 

TRANSIITIONING TRANSFERS
Four different players have seen collegiate contests before as the trio of senior Tess Adams, junior Sydney Jordan and sophomore Kristen Caporusso come to Suffolk from SUNY Canton, while sophomore Abbey Weisrock began her career at Salve Regina. 

ON THE BENCH
Taylor Wasylk was selected to build and lead the Suffolk women's hockey as the first-ever head coach in the Spring of 2016. She spent the past year recruiting and will make her head coaching debut this weekend. Wasylk has added knowledgeable player and coaching talent to her staff with Kim Tiberi and Moe Bradley assisting the first-year head coach.

WATCH AND SEE
Head coach Taylor Wasylk sat down with GoSuffolkRams.com to preview the Rams' 2018-19 campaign. To hear what Wasylk had to say and get a glimpse inside the Rams' training session, click the video below. 

PRESEASON PREDICTIONS
Days away from its first-ever contest, the Suffolk women's hockey team has been selected to finish fifth in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC), according to a vote by the league's head coaches. 

Add chart 

MORE READING: Women's Hockey Picked Fifth in NEHC Preseason Poll

SIGHTS & SOUNDS
On October 8, the much anticipated wait for the inaugural Suffolk women's hockey season was over as head coach Taylor Wasylk took her 23-player roster on the ice at Louise E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating rink for its first-ever practice. 

To get a behind-the-scenes look into the first training session for the Rams, click on the video below. 

MORE READING: Women's Hockey Holds Inaugural Practice

BISON BREAKDOWN
Nichols established a new program record for wins a year ago with a 12-12-1 overall mark. 

All seven of the Bison's top scorers are back this season paced by Kelly Ferriera (10g, 16) and Mel McAleer (10g, 14a), who each eclipsed more than 20 points a year ago. Callie Jackson (6g, 7a), Jordan McGuire (2g, 11a) and McKenna Gernandder (7g, 4a) proved to be consistent contributors to the attack as well with double-digit points to their credits.

The offensive experience is backed by the senior vet goaltender Cassandra Goyette. In 20 games played last season, she put together 7-11-1 record with a .928 save percentage and a 2.39 GAA with 592 saves. Abby Bassett adds depth in net after seeing six outings a year ago where she notched a 5-1-0 ledger with a save percentage of .911 and a GAA of 2.38.

LOOKING AHEAD
Suffolk has one final non-conference bout before NEHC play commences with the Rams scheduled to travel to Anna Maria next Friday, Oct. 2, before hosting Johnson & Wales in their league opener Saturday, Oct. 3.