CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – In his collegiate debut, Matt Bucher led a well balanced attack as Suffolk men's hockey skated past Assumption, 5-2, Saturday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Rink in the 2017-18 season opener.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5, Assumption 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0-0) | Assumption (0-1-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk grabbed a one-goal edge after the first 20 minutes as Bucher potted his first collegiate goal within the first 3:47 minutes of action.
The Rams blazed out of the locker room, scoring four answered goals including a shorthanded strike by Connor Henry and a powerplay marker from Brendan Heinze to push their advantage to 5-0.
Tom Mahoney erased the shutout for Suffolk with a powerplay goal of his own as two blue-and-gold skaters were in the box to trim the margin to 5-1 with 2:12 remaining in the second stanza.
The Greyhounds continue to take advantage of the Rams in the box as they put their second goal of the night in on the man-up advantage. From the left circle, Cam Laughlin crossed to Mac Carnes, who chipped one over Levine's glove to trim the distance to three goals just 1:24 into the third frame.
Suffolk held Assumption's comeback there to skate away with the 5-2 victory.
GOALS
- Bucher sniped Brian Nazzaro unassisted glove side to open the scoring with 3:47 removed from the clock in the first.
- Tyler Scearbo got in on the scoring frenzy thanks to feeds from Jack Kelly and Mark Barton. In a cluster in front, Screabo put the puck away on Nazzaro's stick side to make it a 2-0 Suffolk game, 3:43 into the second period.
- Playing one skater down after Tommy Bishop was whistled for a game misconduct and checking from behind, Mikhail Bryan cleared the Rams' zone and found Henry on the headed to Greyhound terrority. The junior forward used momentum from Bryan's setup and went on a breakaway, easily finding the back of the netting to push Suffolk's lead to three at the 5:28 minute mark.
- Bucher scored his second of the night with another unassisted goal. This time the freshman from Cromwell, Connecticut, wrapped around Assumption's posts and tucked the puck past a new set of gloves, David Zulauf.
- With Brian Farrell in the box for slashing, Heinze took advantage, scoring his first of the season thanks to the help by Gavin O'Neill to give Suffolk a 5-0 cushion with 7:34 remaining in the second half.
- Mahoney put the Greyhounds on the board after the visitors passed around the zone on a 5-on-3. The senior put one past Michael Levine glove side to trim the margin to 5-1 with just under three minutes to go in the second. Matt Cowels and Farrell recorded assists on the strike.
KEEPING UP WITH THE KEEPERS
- Levine picked up the win as the junior put together a 37-save effort.
- Nazzarao suffered the setback in 25:28 minutes of action after an 11-save performance.
- In relief effort, Zulauf stopped seven of the nine attempts he faced.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Assumption held the advantage in shots, 39-23.
- Suffolk went 1-for-2 on the powerplay, while the Greyhounds scored both of its tallies on the man-up advantage.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk won its seventh straight season opener, improving to 8-10-1 on day one of the season.
- The Rams are no 6-5-0 when playing the first contest of the year in front of its home crowd dating back to 1999.
- Suffolk scored five goals on opening day for the second straight season.
- The three-goal victory marks the largest season opening win since defeating the Greyhounds by an identical margin to open the 2012-13 campaign.
- Bucher recorded his first collegiate points and became the first Ram to notch a multi-goal game since Jackson Tucker potted a hat trick in a 3-0 versus Becker January 21, 2017.
- Scearbo, Kelly, Barton and O'Neill all registered their first collegiate points. Scearbo scored for the first time, while Kelly, Barton and O'Neill each had one assist each.
- Henry registered his second collegiate shorthanded goal and is the first Ram to do so since he accomplished the feat in a 4-3 win against the University of New England February 11, 2017.
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk is back in front of its home crowd next Friday, Nov. 3 when it opens Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play versus Nichols. Puck drop between the Rams and Bison is set for 7 p.m.