Adam Marotta

This week in Suffolk University sports: Women’s hockey drops conference game, women’s basketball out of playoff contention, men’s basketball picks up crucial conference win and track & field breaks trio of school records.

Men’s hockey wins senior night game

Hosting the Framingham State University Rams for their senior night game Feb. 10, men’s hockey survived a late comeback attempt to secure win number seven in a row with a 4-3 final score.

Aidan O’Connell and Ralph Berry scored in the first period to give Suffolk an early 2-0 cushion. O’Connell and Josh Milso scored in the third to give Suffolk four goals, but Framingham State scored three times in the period to make it uncomfortably close before Suffolk held the wall defensively to secure the win.

Junior goalie Max Banoun made his first start in a Suffolk uniform and third total appearance since joining the team last season as a transfer from Franklin Pierce University. Banoun stopped 18 of the 21 shots Framingham State sent his way for his first Suffolk win.

The Rams also honored seniors Will MacNeil, Adam McNabney, Matt Pimental, Cole Scott, Thomas Dempsey and Ryan Webb before the game for their contributions to the program. None of the five who played factored into the scoring.

Women’s hockey drops fourth straight

Women’s hockey took their fourth straight regulation loss with a 4-2 setback to Nichols College on home ice in Conference of New England play Feb. 7, sitting at 5-14-2 overall and 5-7-2 in CNE games.

The Rams and Bison were tied 1-1 after the first and 2-2 after the second, with Sienna Reeves and Keira Goffe scoring on the power play for the Bison, countered by Cassie Borowski and Laurel Potter goals for Suffolk. Isabelle Brennan and Angalisa Caceda scored in the third for Nichols to give them separation.

Suffolk was once again heavily outshot in this game. Nichols goalie Taylor Daly made 23 saves on 25 shots to get the win, while Rams goalie Katelyn Michals faced 40 shots, stopping 37 of them. She’s made 775 saves this season, two shy of her total from all of last year, with four games still to play in the regular season.

Men’s basketball picks up key conference win

James Jones and Hatcher Nordquist were the stars of the show for men’s basketball in a CNE tilt against Nichols Feb. 7, with both scoring over 20 points in a 87-70 win for the Rams on the road.

Jones posted a 22-point, 10-rebound double-double, while Nordquist was just shy of a double-double himself with 25 points and nine rebounds. Declan Davis provided 14 points off the bench, thanks to 4-for-5 shooting from three-point range, while Greg Keane scored eight points and added three blocks as he continues to rank in the top five in the nation in blocks per game.

Suffolk sits in third in the CNE standings with a 9-4 conference record. It would take the Rams winning their final three games and Western New England University going 1-3 over their last four to surpass the Golden Bears in the standings to earn a first-round bye in the CNE playoffs, but Suffolk is still in good position to host a first-round playoff game as the playoffs approach.

Women’s basketball knocked out of playoff contention with latest loss

The playoff streak is officially over for women’s basketball.

Facing Nichols on the road Feb. 7, the Rams fell in a tightly contested 56-55 final score. Suffolk now sits at 4-9 in CNE play and cannot surpass the sixth-place Roger Williams University Hawks in the standings to be the last team in the playoffs, ensuring Suffolk’s playoff streak will not reach 30 years.

In the game, Tatiana Tune had a big day for the Rams with a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double. Jordan Moreau joined Tune in double figures with 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field. Delaney More had nine points, Allison Bono added eight and Ava Thurman had three to round out Suffolk starters.

School records fall again for track & field

Indoor track & field competed at the Riverhawk Invitational Feb. 6 and 7 in Boston, with the school record books being rewritten for the second week in a row.

Seven Rams recorded personal bests in the women’s meet Feb. 6, including all five who ran the 200-meter dash. A pair of school records were also broken, as Hilma Ortega ran a 9.41 second time in the 60 meter hurdles and JJ Conteh finished the 60 meter dash in 7.84 seconds.

The men’s meet Feb. 7 saw Josh Catino break the school record in the pole vault by clearing 3.80 meters. Nine Rams combined for 12 personal records on the day as well.

Charlie Billard set new bests in the 60 dash in 7.55 seconds and the 200 in 23.42 seconds, Marco Gomez in the 60 dash with a 7.92 second time and a 56.16 second showing in the 400-meter dash and Connor Johnson with a 23.94 second time in the 200 and 54.09 seconds in the 400.