The season is now in full swing for the Suffolk University men’s hockey team. After splitting its first four games of the season, it is now the time of the year when everyone is starting to get comfortable with each other and teams have a chance to make moves in the conference.
The fifth contest of the year came at home in a conference match against a solid Nichols College team. Suffolk looked to have a problem with the Nichols offense, defense, and goaltending. The Rams netted four goals in the first period giving the team the dominant advantage. Accounting for two of the four first period goals was center Tyler Murray. Murray picked up his second and third goals of the year. Also, defenseman Jon Stauffer added two assists in the first, and finished the game with three.
As the game progressed Suffolk continued to dominate on the ice, adding three more goals before it was all said and done. The final score of the contest was 7-1. Also having a great game was Simon Leahy who, like Murray, scored two goals in the game (these being No. 4 and 5 on the season).
Next on the schedule was a Becker College team who has yet to have a win under its belt in the early stages of the season. Suffolk could take advantage of this and pick up another conference win after scoring 7 goals on a much better Nichols team.
After the first period, Suffolk found itself one down when Tim Benedetto took two minutes in the penalty box for boarding. The score would remain the same until the second, when Becker extended its lead by going up 2-0 on a goal from Tyler Auricchoo.
Suffolk finally got on the board just a minute after the team found itself down by two. Charlie McGinnis scored his third of the year to bring the Rams within one goal.
In the third, Suffolk tied it up on Carmen Mastrangelo’s first goal of the year, and minutes later, gave Suffolk the lead on a power play chance. Mastrangelo’s second goal of the game and of the year looked to be enough to hold on for Suffolk late in the third. With just two-and-a-half minutes left, Auricchio again scored for Becker, and again on the power play. Time expired and the game was tied heading into a 5-minute overtime. Nothing was solved there and the game ended in a tie.
The next three games for the Rams were against non-conference opponents for the first time in five games. The next three games for the Rams resulted in three tallies in the loss column.
First the Rams faced Southern New Hampshire. Suffolk was out-shot two out of three periods and scored just one goal while SNHU scored three of its own for the victory. A bright spot was a short-handed goal by David Lazaro that gave Suffolk a 1-0 lead. Three unanswered goals from SNHU followed and Suffolk was handed a loss.
Next up the Rams would take on Bowdoin College in the Colby-Bowdoin Face-Off Classic at Colby. This was probably the hardest game to watch so far early in the season as Suffolk did not bring its game to the ice. Suffolk was out-shot by a margin of 41-22 and were out-scored 5-0. One goal in the first, two in the second, and two in the third for Bowdoin was more than enough to defeat a tired Rams squad.
And the most recent game for Suffolk came the very next day after the Bowdoin loss. Suffolk took on the host of the Face-Off in Colby College. This game was more entertaining than the last with nine goals scored in total between the two teams. Both teams scored one goal after the first period. Suffolk forward Richard Woodworth got his first of the year to tie the game after another power play goal was surrendered by Suffolk.
Once the second began, Colby started to take over. Colby scored two goals a minute apart in the first half of the second period to extend its lead to 3-1. The next goal was Tim Sprague potting his fifth goal of the year to help Suffolk try and claw back into the game, down by one. The one goal deficit did not last long as Colby added another before the end of the second, extending its lead back to two.
In the third, Colby pushed its lead even further scoring again with Jack Burton getting his second of the game. With the score now 5-2, Suffolk needed a push. Charlie McGinnis tried to give them that push by scoring his fourth goal of the year assisted by Simon Leahy. Suffolk needed two goals with only 12 minutes left to tie. Suffolk took two penalties in the closing minutes and surrendered yet another power play goal extending Colby’s lead to 6-3, which would be the final score.
Suffolk is now 3-5-1 overall and 2-2-1 in the conference. The next Rams’ hockey game is this Saturday at Franklin Pierce.
