The final stretch of the Suffolk University men’s hockey season is underway. The Rams play their last nine games versus conference opponents, looking to find a way into postseason play. This past week, the men played three games looking to start some momentum in these final games.

On Jan. 25, Suffolk faced off against Curry College, another team trying to find a way to make a playoff appearance. The Rams opened the scoring in the first period on a goal by Tim Sprague. Sprague is tied for second on the team in goals scored with seven.

Despite an early lead, Curry tied it up just over two minutes later. Things got worse for the Rams as quickly after the equalizing goal, Suffolk took a penalty that lead to a power play goal for Curry, and the loss of the lead.

The second period got nothing done on the scoreboard, so heading into the final period Suffolk remained down by one.

Forty-seven seconds into the third, Carmen Mastrangelo received a 10 minute game misconduct for a hit to the head of a Curry player. The penalty removed Mastrangelo from the game, and resulted in another power play goal for Curry, who led 3-1.

Curry tallied another goal late in the third, and that would be all she wrote. Suffolk dropped the game 4-1, going 0-6 on their power play opportunities.

The men’s next tilt would be on home ice versus a 6-10-2 Wentworth club. In the first period, things were not looking good for the Rams. After being on the power play, Suffolk took a tripping penalty that put them on the penalty kill where they have struggled all season.

The struggling continued as Wentworth buried a power play goal giving them a lead early on. The first period would continue to be unkind as Wentworth tacked on another score to make it 2-0 after 20 minutes.

Just after seven minutes into the second, another penalty was called on the Rams, this time boarding. Once again, a failed penalty kill added to their deficit, now at 3-0.

Charlie McGinnis would get a goal back for the Rams 13 minutes into the second, his sixth of the year assisted by Simon Leahy and Dan Mazzei.

The two goal lead stayed in-tact for Wentworth for the majority of the third period until McGinnis added his second of the game and seventh on the year. His second came with only two minutes remaining in the game, and even with the goalie pulled, Suffolk could not find another goal to tie it up.

The final score was 3-2, making this the fourth loss in a row for Suffolk.

This past Saturday the Rams took on Johnson & Wales University (15-4-0). The men needed to play their best if they were to take down one of the best teams in the ECAC Northeast.

Halfway through the game, Suffolk looked like the team that had been struggling for most of the year, finding themselves down 3-0. At the end of the second period, a new team emerged during a power play opportunity that Suffolk cashed in on off of the sick of Mastrangelo.  Mastrangelo’s fourth of the year sent a spark down the Suffolk bench that carried over to the third.

Seven minutes into the last period of play, Mike Pantano notched his first goal of the year, and a big one at that, cutting the J&W lead down to just one. Meanwhile, the Suffolk penalty kill was looking the best it has all year, cancelling any J&W man advantage attack.

At 16:21, McGinnis continued his hot scoring streak by tying the game on the power play one again. Back to back tripping calls gave Suffolk around four minutes on the man advantage, and McGinnis was assisted by Jon Stauffer and Mike Cherpak.

The game would go to overtime, where Suffolk would fall 4-3. Although the game resulted in a loss, it gave a lot of the team hope as to what they can do against a high ranked team. Coach Glionna agrees.

“Our recent struggles are probably due to a lack of scoring, more specifically our inability to convert on the power play.  The ECAC Northeast is a very tough conference so we need to play well every night.  We play a very hard nonleague schedule to prepare us for these important games.”

Coach Glionna knows the penalty kill has been poor all season, but was starting to come together in recent games.

“Special teams have been our Achilles’ heel this year.  Our power play has struggled but I thought getting two power play goals against JWU, who at the time was No. 5 in the country on the P.K. was hopefully a sign of us breaking through.   Our kill also seems to be improving as they were six-for-six.”

The leadership is still strong in the locker room and the Rams know they still will have to work hard in order to win big games down the stretch. Also, the four goaltenders Suffolk University carry creates a healthy battle between the two.

“We have a great locker room.  Guys come to work very hard every day.  The captains do a great job of making sure guys are ready every day. I think all of our goalies bring something to the table.  It’s a healthy competition every day in practice.  The starter is based on the practices leading up to the game.”

The Rams will next take on Salve Regina at home on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at home on Steriti Rink in the North End.