Women’s Hockey Beats Nichols, 4-1

HARRISVILLE, R.I. – Eight players combined for four unanswered goals to send Suffolk women's hockey past Nichols, 4-1, Saturday after Levy Rink in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Nichols 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-1-0, 4-0-0 CCC) | Nichols (0-5-0, 0-4-0 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a scoreless first, the second stanza was on the verge of ending with zeros on both sides of the board as well. Livia Brehm had other things in mind. The freshman converted a pass on the power play from Shana Cote into a one-timer from the top of the right face-off dot into the game-opening goal as the puck zoomed past Victoria Bakopanos with 54 seconds remaining in the middle period. 

Suffolk built on its late lead in the second early on in the third. The Rams charged the Bison's net, which caused a cluster in front of Bakopanos. The puck got loose and Vanessa Stuart quickly chipped it towards Bakopanos' glove side and Nichols netminder was distracted so she could not make the save. Brehm and Jenna Caballero aided on the goal 2:53 into the third that pushed the gap two 2-0 Rams.  

Sammy Lassman etched her name on the scoresheet 42 seconds later. With Megan Buston in the box for tripping, Suffolk's power play worked the puck around the zone waiting for the right opportunity. That came when Jesse Kennedy saw Lassman waiting wide open in front for a no doubter. 

Madison Duff assisted on Lassman's strike before she found the back of the net herself nearly seven minutes later. The senior defensemen sent a slap shot from the blue line through the defense, past Bakopano and into the net to push Suffolk ahead 4-0, at the midway point of the third period. 

Things stayed that way until Grace Melanson figured Lily O'Neil out at the 17:42 mark thanks to a power play play. Isabella Portt and Sarah Zeidan helped erase the shutout. 

Melanson's marker would be the last from either side to keep it 4-1 Suffolk as the final buzzer sounded.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• O'Neil had 19 saves in the victory. 
• Bakopanos had an impressive 49-save effort.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Brehm and Duff had identical two-point, one-goal, one-assist stat lines. 
• Cote chipped in two points as well on a pair of helpers. 
• Lassman and Stuart each added one goal. 
• Caballero, Kennedy and Scilipoti all handed out one assist. 
• Suffolk outshot Nichols, 53-20. 
• The Rams won the face-off battle, 44-30. 
• Suffolk went 1-for-3 on the power play, while Nichols managed to chip in its lone goal on the man-up advantage.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk won its sixth straight game against Nichols to move to 6-2-1 all-time against the Bision. 
• The Rams are unbeaten in the last seven meetings the Bison. 
• On the road, the Rams are 3-1-0 against Nichols. 
• Suffolk has yet to fall to Nichols in a CCC contest, 4-0-0. 
• The Rams have outscored Nichols, 39-20, all-time including a 22-8 margin in the last six outings. 
• The blue-and-gold have potted power play goals in back-to-back outings. It is the first time the Rams have produced two man-up strikes in back-to-back games since Nov. 12-13 in a home-and-home series with Curry. 
• Brehmn tied a career-high two-point performance. 
• Caballero has produced a point in back-to-back games. She dished out her first collegiate assist tonight. 
• Duff (1g, 5a), Kennedy (3g, 1a) and Scilipoti (4g, 2a) pushed their point streaks to three games
• Cote extended her point streak to 14 games in 11 goals and 18 assists. 
• Lassman and Stuart logged their first goals of the season.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is in store for a home-and-home series with CCC rival No. 11 Endicott next weekend, Nov. 18-19. The Rams will welcome the Gulls to Eastie Friday, before battling in Beverly Saturday.