WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – An early advantage paid off for Suffolk women's ice hockey as it took down Western New England (WNE), who is receiving votes in the latest USCHO.com Poll, a 2-1 in Conference of New England (CNE) play Tuesday afternoon at Olympia Ice Center.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | Western New England 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (3-1-1, 3-1-1 CNE) | Western New England (5-2-0, 3-2-0 CNE)

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Suffolk snuck in front 13:26 into the action as Anya Nichipor sniped a shot over Western New England's Rachel Irving's glove. Nichipor, who slid into the slot in front of the cage, was set-up by a direct pass from Jenna Caballero. Liv O'Brien had a stick on the game-opening goal as well.
• The blue-and-gold doubled the distance 1:13 into the middle period. On the power play Bella Schmidt won the puck on the boards, dished up to Alexia Hill, who was just inside the blue line. The sophomore sent a cross ice pass to an awaiting Liliana Moose, who caught Irving off guard glove side to give Suffolk a 2-0 cushion.
• WNE sliced the distance in half 11 minutes later when Mischa Palmitesso's shot snuck under Katelyn Michals's pads. Leah Dube and Maddie Pope aided in the marker for the Golden Bears.  
• Both sides had their chances in the third, but it was the Golden Bears that commanded the final few minutes. Thankfully, the blue-and-gold's defense came up clutch and backed up Michals in net to preserve the victory. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Michals logged 36 saves in the win.
• Irving turned aside 28 shots in the setback.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Moose and Nichipor scored one goal apiece for Suffolk.
• Caballero, Hill, O'Brien and Schmidt notched one assist apiece.
• Western New England held a 37-30 edge in shots.
• The Rams went 1-for-6 on the power play and successfully skated off five penalties. 

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams are unbeaten through their last four games, which marks the longest unbeaten streak since going 6-0-1 Jan. 20-Feb. 10, 2023.
• Suffolk took down Western New England for the second straight meeting to move to 9-5-0 in the all-time series.
• The Rams are now 5-3-0 on the road against WNE.
• Moose extended her point streak to three games. In that span she has two goals and two assists.
• Callabero (1g, 1a), Nichipor (2a), Schmidt (2a) dished out assists in back-to-back games.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk takes one day off before it hosts Western New England in a rematch Saturday, Nov. 22 at 4:50 p.m. at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.