CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – Seven different Rams recorded one point and Michael Levine defended the pipes valiantly to lead Suffolk men's hockey past No. 12 Hobart, 5-2, Friday night at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | No. 12 Hobart 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (4-6-0, 2-5-0 NEHC) | No. 12 Hobart (6-4-0, 4-3-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Lawson MacDougall caught Levine off guard as Blake Coffey slide the puck to the forward from Williamstown, Ontario, who connected five-hole to give Hobart and early 1-0 edge.
Suffolk played catch up and Tommy Bishop got help from Jack Kelly and LJ Fellows to even the playing field at the 12:23 minute mark. Exactly three minutes later Bishop connected for the second time on the night to put the blue-and-gold in front, 2-1. The senior was set-up once again by Kelly with Mikhail Bryan getting in on the action also.
Hobart commanded the second stanza and out the blue-and-gold by 16, (19-3). Levine turned aside all 19-3 attempts he faced and the Rams' defense backed him up with nine blocks to hold onto the one-goal, 2-1 advantage after two periods.
Bryan added cushion early on in the third period. The senior buried a slap shot from the point just 2:54 into the final frame to stretch Suffolk's lead to two, 3-1. Kelly earned his third helper of the day, while Bishop set-up his first score of the season.
With 9:02 remaining in the third period, Sean Montgomery lengthened the Rams' lead even more on the powerplay. The freshman scored on transition on feeds from Jared McCracken and Bryan to turn it into a 4-1 Suffolk score.
The Statesmen cut the margin in half as Travis Schneider scored on the man-up opportunity. Jack Macnee had a hand in the goal that made it a 4-2 contest with 4:54 remaining.
Just 1:41 later Bryan reclaimed a three-goal cushion as the senior scored his second of the night from the left face-off dot. Brian Brooks and Fellows each helped push Suffolk ahead 5-2.
Things remained there the rest of the way as Levine turned aside two more Hobart attempts to lock up the 5-2 conference win for the Rams.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Levine stood on his head to keep Suffolk in front the majority of the way as the senior put together a 45-save effort.
- Liam Lascelle was handed his first setback of the season despite a 17-save performance.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Seven different Rams racked up a point in the victory including four who had a multi-point effort; Bishop (2g, 1a), Bryan (2g, 2a), Fellows (2a) and Kelly (3a).
- Montgomery (1g), Brooks (1a) and McCracken (1a) rounded out the Rams who collected one point in the win.
- Hobart held a commanding lead in shots, 47-22, and won the battle in the face-off circle, 47-33.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Hobart met for the first time.
- The Rams bested a nationally ranked opponent for the second time in as many games.
- Suffolk moved to 1-0-0 versus the Statesmen.
- Bishop matched a career-high two goals.
- Bishop had a season-high three goals on a pair of strikes and one assist.
- Kelly had a career-best three helpers and matched a personal-best three points with his third multi-point contest of the season.
- Bryan had his second multi-point night of the year with two goals and assists, respectively.
- Bryan matched a career-high two goals and set a new personal-best in points (4).
- matched a career-high three points.
- McCracken picked up his first point of season.
- Montgomery scored his second strike of the year.
- Fellows matched a career-high in points (2) and assists (2).
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk entertains Skidmore tomorrow, Dec. 8 in its first semester finale. Game time is set for 7 p.m.