Suffolk University men’s hockey was enjoying their best season in a long time. A 16-win regular season, nationally-ranked special teams units, potent scoring punch and a sturdy defense.
Then, things ended all too similar to the way it did a season ago.
Endicott College took control in the third period, and, thanks to goals by Michael Casey and Collin Kleiser, eliminated the Rams with a 4-1 victory in the Conference of New England semifinals Feb. 28.
Road games in the postseason continue to be the Rams’ kryptonite, as Suffolk dropped to 1-9 with the loss and 2-2 overall under head coach Shawn McEachern. In a year they were arguably even-matched with the rest of the upper-echelon, nationally ranked teams in the CNE, it’s an all too familiar ending for Suffolk.
“Really proud of our group,” said senior captain Ryan Webb. “I thought we turned it around in the second period. Third period, there were a couple more whistles, more than we expected and I think they got a couple bounces that are unfortunate. We had a couple that didn’t go our way, a couple that went off the post. It’s a game of inches.”
The first 10 minutes brought about plenty of physicality, with the teams trading open-ice hits and collisions along the boards. Anthony Cafarelli got a breakaway in the second half of the period and made the most of it, snapping a shot past Austin McNicholas while avoiding the pursuing Nick Liotino to make it 1-0 Gulls after 20 minutes.
Out of the locker room, Suffolk had a clear upper hand in the second period. They were starting to out-skate the Gulls and generated a few high quality scoring chances, but were unable to beat Endicott goalie Peter Sterling.
Until Webb came in and delivered.
With a scrum developing in front of the net in the final minutes of the second, Webb found himself in front of the puck with a lane to shoot. He took the shot and it wiggled its way through traffic and past Sterling to tie the game 1-1 with just 1:10 to go in the second.
Webb’s goal felt like the rubber stamp on a strong middle 20 minutes for the Rams. For McEachern, it was good to see Webb get rewarded at the end of a good period.
“We were getting chances, guys were really playing well in the second period and it was good to get rewarded with a goal,” said McEachern. “That was big, especially coming from Ryan, a senior captain. It was great.”
Webb credited the work of defenseman Nick Liotino right before he got the puck for the goal.
“It was definitely big to get one at the end of the second and settle our guys in for that third period,” said Webb. “Nick Liotino made a great play, and I just tried to make a read and a jump and it worked out.”
Suffolk was put in a precarious position early in the third. Jake Grace was penalized for boarding just 29 seconds into the period, and Liotino was whistled for cross checking just as Grace’s penalty expired. The Rams’ penalty kill stood tall and denied the Gulls for four minutes to keep the score tied.
At the midway point of the third, Suffolk had a golden chance in front of them to take the lead, as Brad Zona of Endicott was called for slashing.
That was when Suffolk’s momentum came screeching to a halt.
Endicott’s John Goldowski was gifted a breakaway chance, which McNicholas denied by deflecting the puck right into the air. It ended up falling right in front of Casey, who quickly put it into the net to put Endicott ahead 2-1 and send the crowd at the Ray Bourque arena into a frenzy.
After a pass in the neutral zone for the Rams was broken up, Kleiser picked off the puck and quickly skated ahead for an odd man rush for the Gulls. He kept the puck and converted 1:59 after Casey’s goal.
Just like that, the Rams were down two.
Noah Gibbs sealed the win for the Gulls with an empty-net goal in the final minutes, sending the Gulls to the CNE championship game and keeping the Rams just short of what would’ve been their first ever conference championship appearance.
Webb reflected on what can still be looked at as a hugely successful season for the Rams.
“We’re proud of our group,” said Webb. “Obviously it didn’t end the way we wanted it to, but we had a hell of a year this year. I think Suffolk hockey’s on the map and it’s only gonna lead to great things in the future. We’re grateful for every moment of it.”
The goalie matchup was a duel of the freshmen, as McNicholas and Sterling were the starting netminders. McNicholas made 21 saves out of the 24 he faced, while Sterling stopped all but one of the 28 that came his way.
McEachern was quick to praise McNicholas for keeping the team in the game for all 60 minutes, and for being a consistent goalie they could rely on every night, as McNicholas started all but one of Suffolk’s games this season.
“He’s been huge all season,” said McEachern. “I thought both goalies played well today, and Austin was his consistent self. He’s always been really good for us, and [he] kept us in the game until the end.”
The loss also meant the final game for Suffolk’s senior class, including co-captains Webb and Thomas Dempsey. In total, six Rams played their final game in a Suffolk uniform this season.
McEachern highlighted the turnaround the team has experienced in the four years the class of 2026 has donned a Suffolk uniform, with the group of six arriving at Suffolk when he did.
“We’ve come so far since those guys were freshmen,” said McEachern. “We had six wins their freshman year, and now they’re graduating on a team that had 17 wins. It’s a big turnaround, and it has a lot to do with those guys and the character they have. We have a really good senior class.”
Suffolk now looks ahead to the 2026-27 season, with a new goalie of the future and a team that figures to return the majority of the talent that was on display this season.
