BEVERLY, Mass. – In front of a sold-out crowd at the opening of Endicott's Raymond J. Bourque Arena, the Suffolk ice hockey team clashed with the Gulls to a 1-1 stalemate after 65 minutes of back-and-forth with its ECAC Northeast opponent.
The overtime game is the Rams (1-0-2, 0-0-2 ECAC Northeast) third consecutive OT contest marking a first in program history according to Suffolk's record books, which date back to the 1999-2000 season.
Suffolk jumped out to an early lead in the first ever meeting between the Rams and Endicott (0-1-2, 0-1-1 ECAC Northeast). Forward Luke Miller punched home a rebound at the doorstop off an initial shot via linemate Jack Jenkins. Both sophomores recorded their first points of the season at the 8:24 mark in the first period.
Nearly five minutes later the Gulls evened the score when freshman forward Ross Olsson one-timed his first collegiate goal through traffic into the back of the net after gaining possession of a loose puck in the left face-off circle. Classmates Alex Marcinek and Parker Wood had assist on the tally.
In the second stanza, both teams had one goal waved off, respectively, before the remainder of the contest belonged to the netminders. Brandon Smolarek continued to stand tall for Suffolk as the senior finished with 34 saves, while Endicott's Kevin Aldridge stopped 37 attempts.
Suffolk outshot Endicott by a slim 38-37 margin, while junior forward Daniel Medvedev won 15 face-offs to lead the Rams' effort in the circle.
The Rams stay on the road this week when they visit Western New England Thursday night for a 7:10 p.m. puck drop.