EAST BOSTON – Suffolk women's ice hockey's regular-season finale and Senior Night was spoiled by the Wildcats as Johnson & Wales scored a late goal in regulation to tie it up and used just 1:43 of overtime to lock up the Conference of New England (CNE) contest away, 3-2, Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | Johnosn & Wales 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-16-2, 6-10-2 CNE) | Johnson & Wales (13-11-1, 10-7-1 CNE)
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Bella Schmidt had the puck in the neutral zone looking to bring it into Wildcats' territory. Grace Adams had other things in mind as she poked the puck away from Suffolk's junior and took int in for a one-on-one with Katelyn Michals. Adams flipped the puck by the junior to give the visitors a 1-0 edge at the 11:06 mark of the second period.
- The Rams responded 5:27 later. The blue-and-gold peppered Katleyn Cardoso with attempts and eventually Bella Schmidt managed to chip one home out of the cluster in front to level the playing field.
- Suffolk jumped in front 13:35 in the third behind a power play puck from Jenna Caballero. Anya Nichipor tipped Liliana Moose's initial attempt and Caballero collected the rebound, which she used to up the blue-and-gold in front, 2-1.
- As time ticked off the clock JWU pulled Cardoso from her post in the cage for the extra skater. The six attackers paid off for the visitors as Jordan Hopping managed to put away the game-tying goal with 26 seconds left in regulation.
- The Wildcats tested Michals early in the extra session and on the third attempt Sophia Brea connected to seal Suffolk's 3-2 setback.
NETMIINDER NOTES
- Michals had 34 saves in the overtime outing.
- Cardoso produced 15 stops in the victory.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Caballero finished with two points on a split stat line of one goal and one assist.
- Schmidt supplied one goal.
- Borowski, Moose and Nichipor added one assist apiece.
- JWU overpowered Suffolk in shots, 37-17.
- The Wildcats held the upper hand in face offs as well, 25-18.
- The blue-and-gold went 1-for-1 on the power play and successfully skated off two penalty kills.
NOTEWORTHY
- Nichipor stretched her point streak to three games. In that span she has two goals and one assist.
- Caballero compiled a multi-point game for the third time this season.
- Schmidt scored her sixth goal of the season.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk's season continues into the 2026 CNE Tournament with first round play set for Wednesday, Feb. 25. The official bracket of the postseason action will be released later tonight.