CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – Suffolk men's hockey fell behind early and never found its way back as No. 10/8 Norwich scored three goals in the first period to coast to an 8-1 victory over the Rams Friday night at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 1 | No. 10/8 Norwich 8
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-14-0, 4-10-0 NEHC) | No. 10/8 Norwich (14-4-3, 10-4-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Norwich got off to a hot start with six straight goals over the first and second periods – three unanswered over the first set of 20 minutes and three in the first 14 minutes of action in the middle outing.
Down six with just over four minutes left on the clock in the second stanza, Phil Kreuser put the Rams on the board. Jack Kelly and Nick Abbene assisted on the play that erased the shutout for the Cadets.
Kreuser's marker could not ignite a late surge for Suffolk as the Cadets put another pair of pucks away in the final period to skate away with the 8-1 conference decision.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Will Ribas opened things up for Suffolk in between the pipes and stopped 18 saves over a period and a half.
- Michael Levine came on as relief after the Cadets' fifth goal. The senior netminder turned aside 15 of the 18 shots he faced.
- Tom Auburn secured the win for Norwich with a 16-save effort of two periods of action.
- Ben Nelson put together a third-period of scoreless work in net with six saves to his credit.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Kreuser accounted for Suffolk's score with Abbene and Kelly helping out on the strike.
- Norwich outshot Suffolk, 41-23, and commanded the face-off dot, 50-29.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk met its eighth ranked opponent of the season.
- Kresuer scored his first goal in a Suffolk uniform.
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk caps off its home slate tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 2 when it clashes with Castleton at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink. The 7 p.m. showdown will serve as the Rams' Military Appreciation Night.