Posted: Feb 06, 2016
BOSTON, Mass. - Behind the play of senior netminder Joel Miller and a pair of powerplay tallies, Wentworth spoiled Suffolk hockey's Senior Night, 3-1, Saturday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.
Miller stopped 37 of 38 shots in goal to lift Wentworth to its fourth straight victory as the Leopards improved to 7-13-2 overall and 6-6-1 against ECAC Northeast foes. Suffolk dropped its second straight game to slip to 12-7-2 on the season and 7-4-2 in league play.
Junior Jake Flynn staked the visiting Leopards to the early advantage just 30 seconds into the contest with his sixth goal of the season on a feed from freshman Adam Lane, but the host Rams evened matters at the 7:11 mark of the opening frame when sophomore Luke Miller converted passes from senior Zack Capozza and freshman Connor Henryfor his fifth marker of the year.
After a scoreless second, sophomore Jake McDonough gave Wentworth the lead for good with the first of the two visitors' power play goals with 6:31 to play in the first period, and that score held up until midway through the final stanza when freshman Eric Eustace provided an insurance tally with his first collegiate marker on the man-advantage that came with just under 11 minutes remaining to seal the Leopards' triumph.
Flynn added an assist to finish with two points in the win for Wentworth, which also received helpers off the sticks of sophomore Nick Newman as well as freshmen Ethan Weiss and Sean Brennan.
Miller took care of the rest in goal for the visitors, as he stopped the final 32 shots he faced (including 29 combined over the final 40 minutes of action) to earn his seventh win of the season.
Senior Brandon Smolarek made 22 stops in allowing just one even-strength goal in the setback for Suffolk, as the Rams outshot the Leopards by a 38-25 margin on the evening, including a 29-15 advantage in the final two periods alone.
Prior to puck drop, Suffolk honored the playing careers of its seven graduates; Capozza, Mike Cherpak, Tyler Heineman, Connor McCarthy, Justin Selep, Shaughn Shields and Smolarek.
Suffolk travels to Pawtucket, Rhode Island on Thursday evening to take on Johnson & Wales in an ECAC Northeast outing that faces off at 6:45 p.m.
