Women’s Hockey Storms Past Johnson & Wales, 5-1

EAST BOSTON – Down one early, Suffolk women's hockey poured in five unanswered to snap a six-game skid and take down Johnson & Wales, 5-1, Friday night in Conference of New England (CNE) action at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Johnson & Wales 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (9-12-1, 7-7-1 CNE) | Johnson & Wales (9-14-2, 6-11-2 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Johnson & Wales jumped ahead 3:34 into the contest when Kylie O'Keefe chipped the puck past Katelyn Michals with help from Kailin Kane and Sophia Brea.  

The Rams responded less than six minutes later as Maddie Gagliano chipped in a pass by Sam Molind. Sammy Lassman had stick on the game-tying goal at the 9:16 mark as well.

Kate Pohl sat down in the sin bin with 3:02 left in the opening period for tripping and the Wildcats tested Michals. The sophomore denied the pair of shots she faced and JWU sent its own player to the penalty box to make things 4-on-4.  

Once Pohl's penalty expired, Suffolk capitalized on its first power play of the day as Liliana Moose sniped a shot from just inside the blue line with 11.9 seconds left on the clock in the opening frame to send the blue-and-gold into the first intermission ahead 2-1. Leslie Steiner and Gagliano set-up the go-ahead goal. 

Suffolk extended its edge at the 8:51 mark of the middle period. Lassman logged her second point of the day when she found the back of the cage on the power play to make it 3-1 Rams. Steiner collected her second assist on the strike and Bella Schmidt aided in the goal as well.  

The Rams tacked on two more strikes in the third and Michals turned aside all 10 shots she faced in the final set of 20 minutes for the lopsided 5-1 margin. 

Lily Abrahama connected first 2:03 out of the second intermission with help from Abby Sandler and Shayna Deutsch.  

Lassman netted her second of the day with 45 seconds left in regulation for the 5-1 final. Alexia Hill and Steiner collected assists on the strike. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Michals finished with 33 saves in the victory. 
• Leah White registered 32 stops in the setback.

STATISICALLY SPEAKING

• Ten Rams recorded at least one point for Suffolk. 
• Lassman and Steiner each supplied three points. The former had a pair of goals and one assist, while the latter's stat line was a trio of helpers. 
• Gagliano notched two points on a split stat line of one goal and one handout. 
• Abraham and Moose both tallied one goal apiece. 
• Deutsch, Hill, Molind, Sandler and Schmidt each dished out one assist. 
• Suffolk held a slim advantage in shots, 37-34. 
• The Rams won the face-off battle, 32-25. 
• Suffolk went 2-for-5 on the power play and successfully skated off five penalties. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Johson & Wales for the first time since Nov. 15, 2024. 
• The Rams improved to 6-2-0 all-time against the Wildcats. 
• Suffolk remains unbeaten in Eastie versus JWU, 4-0-0. 
• The Rams have outscored the Wildats, 28-9 all-time. 
• Steiner became the eighth player in Suffolk women's hockey history to skate in 100 games, second this season behind Kate Pohl. Steiner is the fourth-ever Ram to play in all 100 games, while competing for the blue-and-gold joining Shana Cote (115 gp), Madison Duff (115 gp) and Jesse Kennedy (101 gp). 
• Steiner posted a personal-best in points (3) and assists (3). 
• Abraham and Deutsch scored their third goals of the year. 
• Lassman matched a career-high two goals. 
• Moose recorded her fourth goal of the year. 
• Gagliano had her third multi-point game of the season to match a career-high two points.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk concludes its regular season tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 22 when Western New England pays Eastie a visit for a 5:40 p.m. puck drop.