EAST BOSTON – For the first time in program history Suffolk women's hockey got out of the gate in the win column as five different Rams found the back of the net to power the blue-and-gold to a 5-3 victory over Nichols Friday afternoon at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Nichols 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0-0) | Nichols (0-1-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk wasted no time on its highly anticipated game one of the 2020-21, which it waited nearly a year for, as Cassidy Gruning put the puck away just 27 seconds into the action. The sophomore's score was boosted by Julia Volpe and Maddy Burton.
Nichols evened the playing field just over a minute later when Katelyn Joyal lit the lamp by way of Sydney Royce's set-up. Despite a pair of power play opportunities for the hosts, things remained deadlocked at one until at the 18:20 minute mark when Macee Salley put the Bison ahead 2-1 to head into the locker rooms.
It took a bit longer for Suffolk to score in the second stanza, 9:05 to be exact. Thirteen seconds afternoon the Bison made a change in net, with Julia Carroll coming in to take over for Abby Bassett, Nichols attempted to clear its zone and charge the Rams' offensive end. Payton Dockus had other things in mind and deflected a centering pass. Stephanie Moy interception the deflection and went on a one-on-one with Carroll, that the Suffolk junior one to lock things at 2-all.
Shana Cote broke open the tie with the go-ahead goal at 16:13 thanks to help from Madison Ricardo and Sydney Tietz.
Suffolk's scoring didn't stop there though as the trio - Burton, Gruning and Volpe – who put the Rams on the board, distanced the gap to a two. This time the score came from Volpe's stick with Burton and Gruning collecting assists on the marker that made it a 4-2 eight seconds before the second intermission.
Out of the locker room Nichols kept things interesting. The Bison took advantage of their man-up opportunity early on to slice the margin back to one.
Five minutes later Meagan MacNeil pushed Suffolk's advantage back to two. Meghan Gazard earned her first point in a Rams' jersey to help make it a 4-2 blue-and-gold game, which remained intact the rest of the way.
NETMINDER NOTES
- In her first collegiate contest and start, Lily O'Neil turned aside 21 shots.
- Carroll and Bassett each made 23 stops for Nichols with Carroll taking the loss.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Suffolk's five goals came off five different sticks.
- Three different players recorded two points. Gruning and Volpe had identical one-goal, one-assist stat lines, while Burton dished out two helpers.
- Cote, MacNeil and Moy registered one goal apiece.
- Dockus, Gazard, Ricardo and Tietz each produced one assist.
- Suffolk held the upper hand in shots, 51-46, and face-offs, 31-30.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk pulled the curtain back on its season at home for the first time in program history.
- The Rams battled Nichols in their first game of the year for the second time in the Rams' record book, first since Suffolk's inaugural season, 2018-19.
- Suffolk won its season opener for the first time, moving to 1-2-1 all-time in game one.
- The Rams defeated Nichols for the first time. Suffolk is now 1-2-1 all-time versus the Bison.
- Suffolk potted five pucks against the Bison for the second straight meeting and second time in the all-time series.
- Gruning (2 pts, 1a), Burton (2a), Ricardo (1a), Moy (1g), Tietz (1a) Volpe (1g), all matched career-highs.
POST-GAME PIC
SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
Suffolk Athletics will continue to release its winter sports schedule on a week-by-week basis. Fans are encouraged to check GoSuffolkRams.com every week on Tuesday afternoons when the next batch of games will be unveiled.
