EAST BOSTON – On the evening when Suffolk women's hockey was playing for Special Olympics, UMass Boston collected a 5-2 NEHC victory over the Rams on Saturday evening at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | UMass Boston 5
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-10-3, 6-4-1 NEHC) | UMass Boston (11-7-1, 7-4-0 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
UMass Boston would start the game quickly, earning a power play opportunity just a few minutes into the game. On the resulting power play the Rams would be reduced to three skaters giving maximum opportunity to notch the opening goal.
After failing to score on the 5-on-3, the Beacons eventually did find the back of the net on a man-up opportunity courtesy of a wristed effort at the blue line from Erica Lunn. Lunn's shot went through traffic and beat Julia McLellan blocker side to give the visitors a 1-0 advantage 7:29 into the action.
The Beacons add to their advantage quickly into the second period. Mia Sacco tipped in a Katie Leffler shot in front of the net on the power play to make it a two-goal gap 2:41 out of the first intermission.
The Rams continued to attack the Beacons net, but could not find their way past Caty Flagg. Boston continued to add to their advantage though when Leffler gathered a loose puck near the Suffolk defensive zone and beat McLellan from short range on the right side to push the distance to three at the 8:49 minute mark of the middle period.
Suffolk eliminated the shutout when Madison Duff put away the puck on the power play at the 12:52 minute mark to bring the Rams within two. Shana Cote put the puck in a dangerous territory, right in front of the Beacons net, where Duff was to shovel it away.
Out of the locker rooms Boston scored another pair of unanswered goals to grab a four-goal cushion.
Suffolk would not go down without a fight. Maddy Burton tapped in a shot from Grace Scholz with just under eight minutes to play. Burton's short-range goal brought the score to 5-2 and giving the Rams an opportunity to come from behind, however, the hosts could not get past Flagg a third time and the three-goal game ended in favor of UMass.
NETMINDER NOTES
- McClellan stopped 24 shots in between the posts.
- Flagg pulled off 39 saves on the evening.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Duff and Burton each marked their names with a goal.
- Scholz and Cote picked up one assist on the evening.
- The Rams held the edge in shots, 41-29, while also holding a slight advantage from the face-off circle, 30-29.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk skated for Special Olympics, wearing special jerseys for the occasion.
- Duff scored her first goal of the year.
- Both of Suffolk's goals came on the power play, this is the second time all of the Rams goals came on the power play this season. The last occurrence happened during a 2-1 defeat against Johnson & Wales on Nov. 23, 2019.
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Suffolk is on the road next weekend as it heads to New England College and Southern Maine. The Rams will first stop by the Pilgrims Friday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m., before trekking to the Huskies Saturday, Feb. 1 for a 1 p.m. puck drop.
