This week in Suffolk University sports: men’s soccer loses in championship rematch, volleyball hits conference rough patch, women’s tennis enters win column and women’s golf captures conference crown.
Men’s soccer stumbles in championship game rematch
Taking on the undefeated Roger Williams University Hawks in a rematch of the 2024 Conference of New England Championship game Oct. 11, the Rams lost a tightly contested 3-2 game to the Hawks, ending their win streak at five games.
Francisco Valck got the scoring started in the first half, giving Suffolk a 1-0 lead at halftime when he scored on a penalty kick. Early in the second half, Diego Pierantozzi doubled the lead to 2-0 with Valck assisting on his fourth goal of the season.
After that, the Hawks struck convincingly. Max Patenaude scored first to cut the deficit to one before Tyler Jastrab evened the game in the 64th minute. In the final 10 minutes, Dylan Thomas scored his second goal of the season to put Roger Williams ahead for good.
Nathan Harlow played the first 69:28 of the game and made five saves on seven shots for the Rams before Ian Caldwell played the remainder of the game, allowing one goal on the only shot he faced.
The Rams bounced back in an important road tilt against the University of New England Oct. 14. The Rams and Nor’easters were locked in a scoreless battle through most of the game, but Mohamed Mehaya’s goal in the 82nd minute got Suffolk on the board. With mere seconds remaining in the game, Dylan Tratchenberg scored to pad the win. Caldwell secured the shutout in goal with two saves.
Women’s soccer sees win streak end to familiar foe
Like the men’s team, women’s soccer tangled with Roger Williams on the road Oct. 11, falling 1-0 to the Hawks to end their four game winning streak, putting their record at 8-2-2 overall and 3-2-0 in CNE play.
Camryn Dickinson scored in the 14th minute for the Hawks, with her fifth goal of the season being the only offense of the day. Jaiden Wilds made four saves on five shots on net for the Rams, while the Hawks’ Coco Marrelli stopped all five Suffolk shots to preserve the shutout.
Against UNE on the road a few days later, the Rams were unable to get on the scoreboard once again. However, they were also able to hold the Nor’Easters off the board, as Suffolk and UNE battled to a 0-0 tie, their first CNE tie of the season.
Arden Rose started in goal for the Rams, making five saves in a shutout. She made two crucial saves in the final 10 minutes in quick succession, denying what looked like a sure goal by UNE to keep the shutout intact.
Volleyball loses consecutive conference matches
Volleyball traveled to face UNE on the road Oct. 8, with the Rams falling in straight sets to the Nor’easters.
The first set was the closest of the night, with UNE prevailing 25-22. Set two went 25-18 in favor of UNE and set three was a 25-12 decision. Kathy Mo led the way in digs with 17, the only Ram to record double digit digs. Sam Michon led the team in kills with eight, while Aislinn Lanigan picked up two service aces.
Oct. 11 was the Rams’ senior day match at home against the Wentworth Institute of Technology. Set scores of 25-9, 25-15 and 25-11 gave the Leopards a decisive 3-0 win over the Rams, putting a sour note on the day as the Rams fell to 7-13 on the season.
Cross country takes on Westfield State invite
Men’s and women’s cross country competed at the Westfield State Invitational Oct. 11, the final meet of the regular season for the Rams before the CNE championships in November.
Freshman Eric Anderson was the lone member of the men’s team to run the eight kilometer course, crossing the finish line in 34:40.44 to set a new personal best. In the women’s five kilometer race, Maria Gallant led the way for the Rams with a 23:47 time. Jaenelle Bryant produced a 24:03 time, followed by Kaitlyn Cullen at 24:43 and Katarina Ferreira at 26:49.
Women’s golf captures CNE title, NCAA tournament qualifier
Competing in the inaugural CNE championship in Hartford, Connecticut, women’s golf built an early lead and never looked back, taking down the rest of the conference competition to win the CNE championship.
After day one, Suffolk had a five stroke lead over the University of Hartford and built it to 16 on day two to secure a commanding win in the field of five scoring teams. Krisna Mahendran shot an 82 on both days for a 164 total, good for a share of first place individually with Abby Flanagan and Amanda Forziati of UNE.
Two more Rams finished in the top 10 individually, as Brooke Bugajewski shot a 166 over both days to land in fourth place while Emory Goodson secured sixth place with a 173, improving by one stroke on day two.
With the championship win, the Rams secure an automatic bid to the DIII NCAA tournament, which will run from May 19-22, 2026 in Palm Desert, California. Suffolk will return to the NCAA tournament for the first time since winning the Northeast Women’s Golf Conference in 2023, with the Rams having finished in second place in the NWGC last year, narrowly missing out on a second straight tournament appearance.
Women’s tennis secures first win of season
Women’s tennis hosted Colby-Sawyer College at home Oct. 8, continuing their season opening winless streak with a 6-1 loss to the Chargers. Elene Nishnianidze won in singles play over Matilda Macomber to secure the only point of the day for the Rams.
The Rams finally got in the win column Oct. 11 against Curry College, sweeping the Colonels in dominating fashion to win 7-0, improving to 1-9 on the season and 1-6 in CNE play. Suffolk secured wins in every doubles and singles match to take all seven possible points. It was the first shutout win for the Rams since September 2021 against the University of Saint Joseph.
