Justin Selep ripped a goal propelling the Suffolk Rams past the Curry Colonels, in a game filled with back and forth action last Saturday. The Rams (3-0-2) prevailed over Curry College (0-5-1) by a score of 3-­2.

“It was a good team win. Smolarek was once again unbelievable, and it took every guy on the roster to get the job done,” said Selep.

Midway through the first period, forward Stanton Turner propelled the game to a great start with an early goal, his fourth of the season. He continues to successfully find the back of the net and has been a vital part of the Rams offense thus far in the early season.

Freshman forward Justin Holiday kept the Rams offense rolling, sniping his second goal of the season. Holiday’s goal gave the Rams a 2­-0 lead.  Midway through the second period, things were looking up for the Rams. Suffolk had outplayed Curry on both sides of the puck. Then the tides turned in Curry’s favor, as they were able to strike twice in the second period.

Curry’s Zachary White found the back of the net, making the game 2­-1 in favor of the Rams. The Rams still held the advantage and kept their poise. But, just a mere 30 seconds later, Curry’s Tyler Vankleef netted a power play goal knotting the game at 2­-2.

Just like that, the Rams lead vanished.

The game quickly shifted into a true nail-biter as the Rams’ once comfortable lead had been eliminated in less than a minute’s time. The third period was filled with more of the same great defense for both sides; neither team gave up anything easy.

Late in the third period it looked as though the Rams were going to enter into yet another overtime game, something the team has grown accustomed to this season.

With the clock ticking down and just minutes to go, the Rams snagged the puck in their  zone and broke out, flying down the ice.

Suffolk forward Danyil Medvedev was able to send the puck up the ice to defensemen Sean Heelen, who skated into the offensive zone, along with Selep. Heelen dished a crisp pass to Selep who ripped home his fourth goal of the season giving the Rams the lead with just 1:26 to play in the game.

Selep gave a run down of the goal, saying after the game, “Fortunately, I was a benefactor of my line mates, Danyil Medvedev and Mike Cherpak’s hard work. It also took a great play by Sean Heelen to keep the play alive.”

Curry was forced to pull their goalie for the remainder of the game, giving them the man advantage. Curry got three great scoring opportunities during this span but Rams goalie Brandon Smolarek fought off their attempts until the final buzzer. Smolarek faced 37 shots, 35 of which he saved. The Rams held on to win their third game of the year.

“I’m just grateful that Coach Glionna and the coaching staff had enough confidence in us to put our line on the ice,” said Selep.

Selep has been a force on offense this season netting four goals and three assists. His effort on the ice has been pivotal in the offensive success of the team.