Women’s Hockey Bests Nichols, 5-2

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Thanks to three unanswered goals in the second period, Suffolk women's hockey secured a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) home-and-home series sweep over Nichols by a score of 5-2 Saturday afternoon at Levy Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Nichols 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (13-2-0, 8-1-0 CCC) | Nichols (7-7-1, 4-6-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
The teams were deadlocked at 1-all after the first 20 minutes after trading goals in the opening period.  

Madison Duff got the Rams on the board 7:46 into the action on the power play. The senior defenseman was assisted by Elise Wainwright and Sofia Scilipoti. Isabella Portt put the Bison on the board less than four minutes later with help from Kaci Johnson and Kara Santoro to level the playing field. 

It was all Suffolk in the second period as the Rams put away three unanswered marks to take a 4-1 lead into the second intermission.  

Shana Cote put away the puck twice, first 2:21 into the second stanza and again 2:15 later. Scilipoti and Madison Ricardo aided in the senior captain's first goal of the day, while Jesse Kennedy helped on the forward's second strike of the day.  

Five minutes later, Bella Kaczorowski etched her name on the scoresheet with an unassisted marker to make it a three-goal game in Suffolk's favor. 

Sarah Zeidan got a goal back for NIchols 7:44 into the final period to cut the distance in half. Things stood still and the Bison pulled Victoria Bakapanos from her post with 2:16 left in regulation to give Nichols an added boost.  

The extra skater did not pay off for the host as Maddy Burton managed to push in an empty netter with one second to go for the final 5-2 margin.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Lily O'Neil registered 26 saves in the victory. 
• Bakopanos stopped 31 of the 35 shots she faced.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cote was one of three Rams with two points. Her stat line was filled up with a pair of goals. 
• Duff's two-point stat line was divided between goals and assist with one each. 
• Scilipoti handed out two goals. 
• Burton and Kaczorowski both found the back of the net once. 
•  Julia Franklin, Kennedy and Wainwright set-up one shot apiece. 
• Suffolk outshot Nichols, 36-28. 
• The Rams won the face-off battle, 38-21. 
• The blue-and-gold went 2-for-4 on the power play and denied all three of the Bison's man-up chances.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk swept Nichols in a two-game series for the first time in program history. 
• The win marks the third in a row for the Rams over the Bison. 
• The Rams are now 3-2-1 all-time versus Nichols. 
• Suffolk defeated Nichols on the road for the first time in program history. 
• The Rams moved to 1-1-0 when playing on the road against the Bison. 
• Suffolk's five goals against Nichols tie the most markers in a single outing versus Bison in the all-time series. 
• Suffolk has lit the lamp five times against Bison three times. 
• The last time Suffolk scored five pucks versus Nichols was Feb. 26, 2021.
• Duff tied a season-high two-point performance. 
• Burton (2g, 2a) and Kennedy (1g, 4a) pushed her point streak to four straight games. 
• Scilipoti and Wainwright each matched a personal-best in helpers with two and one, respectively. 
• Cote had her fourth multi-goal game of the season.  
• Kaczorowski netted her second collegiate goal.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S AHEAD?
Suffolk will tangle with No. 8 Endicott next weekend. The Rams and Gulls will battle in Beverly, Massachusetts, Friday, Jan. 28 at 7 p.m., before meeting Saturday, Jan. 29 in Eastie Boston at 4:50 p.m.