Saturday Showdown vs. WNE in Store of Hockey

BOSTON –  Suffolk hockey will play host to ECAC Northeast foe Western New England Saturday night inside Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink at 7 p.m. 

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LAST TIME OUT
Freshman Parker Wood netted a pair of goals to lead Endicott to a 6-3 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Suffolk Wednesday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.

Wood staked the visiting Gulls to a 2-0 advantage after the opening 20 minutes of play and after the teams traded tallies in the middle stanza, goals off the sticks of freshman Shamus Maloney and Carter Horwitz extended Endicott's edge to 5-1 with just over four minutes remaining.

Markers by junior Justin Selep and sophomore Shayne Bailey in a 1:12 span late in the frame enabled the host Rams to close back to within a pair at 5-3 with 56 seconds to play, but sophomore Connor Costello's empty netter in the final second of action sealed the visitors' triumph.

MORE READING: Endicott Skates Past Hockey, 6-3

RUN DOWN ON THE RAMS

• With the 6-3 setback to Endicott Wednesday, Suffolk moved to third place in ECAC Northeast standings with a 6-2-2 conference ledger and an 11-5-2 overall mark. 

• Justin Selep, who ranks in the top-20 national in points (1.39 - 17) and goals (0.78 – 11) per game, leads the league and team in points (25), goals (15), short-handled goals (2), game-winning goals (4) and hat tricks (1). His four game-winners tie five other skaters across the country for the most nationally.  

• Danyil Medvedev is second on the team and fifth in the conference with 20 points on the second-most helpers among ECAC Northeast skaters with 13.  

• Overall, 26 different Rams have recorded a point this season, with 21 tallying multiple points and six notching double figure points. As a team, Suffolk produces the third highest offense in the league with 3.72 goals per game.  

• The Rams have called upon each goalie of their three-headed netminder machine this season.  Brandon Smolarek has been Suffolk's go-to in 15 contests with the senior producing 434 saves (.912) and allowing just 42 pucks past him (2.86 GAA). Kevin Venturoso has 84 saves to his credit, while Michael Levine has stopped 23 pucks.

'BOUT THE BEARS

• After recording its first victory of the season January 6, a 5-1 win over Framingham State, Western New England has gone 0-4-2 in its last five to move to 1-14-3 on the year and 0-8-1 in ECAC Northeast tilts. In its last outing, the Bears fell to Wentworth, 5-2. 

• Chris Lembo and Dane Genord each put in a team-high five goals this season with Lembo passing out a team-best eight assists to pace the Bears in points (13). Genord has five assists to his credit to join Lembo in double-digit points at 10.  WNE has received points from 20 different skaters this season, but Lembo and Genord are the only two in double figure points.  

• Four different goalies have been in between the pipes for the Bears with Austin Keiser seeing the most action. In 16 games the senior made 474 saves (.912) and let 46 goals in (3.39 GAA) to record a 1-12-2 record. 

WE MEET AGAIN
Western New England tied the ECAC Northeast contest with just 35 seconds remaining, but Stanton Turner lit the lamp at the right time as the junior's game-winner came just eight seconds later to lift the Suffolk hockey team over the Bears, 4-3, November 12 at Smead Ice Arena.

Turner's third score of the season vaulted the Rams to victory, while senior Brandon Smolarek's play in net allowed Suffolk the opportunity to remain in the hunt for the win. Smolarek finished with 25 saves over the three periods, the Rams first regulation game this season, while his counterpart Austin Keiser was tested by the Rams, stopping 35 shots.

Juniors Justin Selep and Danyil Medvedev each put together three-point performances to lead the Rams' offensive charge. Selep found the back of the net twice and dished out one assists, while Medvedev put in one tally and had two helpers. Senior Tyler Heineman had two assists on the night with senior Mike Cherpak and freshmen Justin Holliday and Nick Mosher handed out one assist apiece.  

MORE READING: Turner's Game-Winner Lifts Hockey Over Western New England, 4-3

RIGHT ON, ROOKIES
The freshman class has made a significant impact for Suffolk this season. Rookie forward Justin Holliday's 11 points off five goals and six assists, sit tied for fourth on the team. Tommy Bishop's 10 points (4-6-10) rank sixtyh on the team, while his forward counterparts of Nick Mosher (3-4-7) and Connor Parent (5-2-7) each have seven points to round out the Rams' top 10 point earners. Brendan Heinze has scored three goals and handed out two helpers and Mikhail Bryan has three assists to his credit. Connor Henry (1-0-1), Sean Henry (0-1-1) and Dominic Rovero (0-1-1) round out the rookies with points.

As a whole, the Class of 2019 accounts for 27.7 percent of the Rams' offense with 21 goals and 25 assists. 

SHOW STOPPER
Brandon Smolarek has stood tall for Suffolk between the pipes and is a major reason why the Rams are 11-5-2 this season. The senior netminder has turned away 434 attempts, the seventh most among ECAC Northeast goalies. Smoalrek boasts a 2.86 goals-against average and .912 save percentage, which both sit fifth and sixth in the league, respectively.

Smolarek brought his career total to 2,005 saves Saturday, a milestone that was reached by just one other Ram since 1999-00, Jeff Rose '11 who owns Suffolk's all-time saves record with 2,799.

The Chesterfield, Michigan native steered away 46 shots against Salve Regina November 4, the most by a Suffolk keeper since junior Kevin Venturoso stopped 52 attempts against Tufts January 8, 2014. 

A HEAPIN' HELPIN' OF HELPERS
The Rams have done well to spread the puck around with 14 scorers registering multiple goals, led by Justin Selep's 13 and Danyil Medvedev's seven. On 67 total goals this season, Suffolk has racked up 99 assists, led by Medvedev's 13 and Selep's 11. 

GAME-WINNING GANG
Six of Suffolk's 11 game-winning goals this season have been scored by upperclassmen with the remaining three coming off the sticks of first-years. Junior Justin Selep leads the way with four, while freshman Justin Holliday and junior Stanton Turner ach put in two. Senior Zack Capozza, sophomore Luke Miller and freshman Nick Mosher each have game-winning scores to their credit. 

NINE SCORES AND 14 YEARS AGO
For the first time in 14 years, Suffolk scored nine goals en route to a 9-5 trouncing of UMass Dartmouth January 21. Six skaters in blue-and-gold combined for the most scores by the Rams since December 4, 2002 in an 11-4 victory over Franklin Pierce. Twelve different players recorded a point to put in the most goals in the Chris Glionna era and the most tallies on the road in Suffolk history, according to the record books, which date back to the 1999-2000 season.

UP NEXT
Suffolk will open February on the road as the Rams head to Curry Thursday, Jan. 4 for a 6:45 p.m. start.