BOSTON – The Suffolk hockey team kept its unbeaten streak alive Thursday night with its fourth straight victory, a 6-3 win over Stonehill at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink. The Rams took control early, netting two goals within 15 seconds of each other, an outburst that proved too much for the Skyhawks to recover from.
Suffolk (5-0-2) drew first blood 6:55 into the first period when J.B. Sweeney found Brendan Heinze for a quick shot. Nick Mosher also assisted on the goal. Thirteen seconds later, the Rams struck again. This time, Danyil Medvedev put one in on a pass from Tyler Heineman.
Stonehill (3-2-2) was determined to get on the board and took advantage when Simon Leahy was whistled for tripping. Close to one minute into their power play the Skyhawks connected as Connor Fallon scored on a set-up by Anthony D'Elia and made it a one-goal game at 16:13.
Heinze, who netted his first collegiate goal earlier in the contest, put his second away at 19:33 to give the Rams a comfortable two-goal lead heading into the first intermission. Sweeney also collected his second point of the night on the tally.
The momentum continued in Suffolk's favor in the second period. After killing off Stanton Turner's penalty two minutes into the stanza, the Rams were down a man when Leahy headed to the box for hooking at 5:24. Despite the disadvantage Suffolk did not its offense slide and Zack Capozza stretched the Rams' lead even further with an unassisted, short-handed goal at the 6:33 mark. Capozza's first goal of the season is the first short-handed goal by a player in blue-and-gold since Justin Selep and Tim Sprague '15 netted one apiece against Wentworth February 21, 2015.
Out of the second break, momentum shifted to Stonehill. Brian Higgins put a goal in just 1:04 into third-period action thanks to help from Dan Graham and Garrett White. Less than five minutes later the Skyhawks capitalized on Leahy's third penalty of the night. Brian Furey's blade put Stonehill's second power play goal of the night away and narrowed the score to 4-3 with plenty of time remaining in regulation. Higgins and Dorgan each had a hand on the score.
Suffolk maintained its lead and built on it at 16:39 when Selep found the back of the netting for the fifth time this season on a dish from Tyler Heineman. With under two minutes remaining Stonehill pulled William Palmer for an extra skater, but failed to capitalize as Mike Cherpak added an empty-netter with 51 seconds on the clock to secure a 6-3 win for Suffolk. Medvedev notched his second point of the non-conference contest on Cherpak's second goal of the season.
The Rams' six goal are the most by a Suffolk team since matching that number against Assumption January 22, 2015. Suffolk held a slim advantage in shots, 30-29, with Kevin Venturoso making 26 saves in his first start and win in 2015-16.
Suffolk continues its home stand Saturday when it returns to ECAC Northeast action and entertains Johnson & Wales at 7 p.m.