EAST BOSTON – Behind goals from Shana Cote and Jesse Kennedy and perfect netminding from Lily O'Neil, Suffolk women's hockey took down Commonwealth Coast Conference counterpart University of New England in shutout fashion, 2-0, Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | University of New England 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-3-0, 6-1-0 CCC) | University of New England (5-5-0, 4-3-0 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
University of New England had the upper hand first as Madison Ricardo sat down in the penalty box for interference. Suffolk's special teams successfully played off the two minutes that saw O'Neil scoop up two saves to keep things scoreless with just under 16 minutes remaining in the first frame.

Five minutes later, the Rams went on their own power play. The host took advantage of their man-up opportunity as Cote picked up the pieces of Leslie Steiner's blocked shot and fired it past Delanie Corcoran to give the blue-and-gold a one-goal lead at the midway point of the opening period. 

Cote's goal kept Suffolk in front for the remainder of the first and all of the second as Corcoran stood up to the Rams' 16-shot test in the middle period. 

Kennedy tacked on an insurance tally at the 13:58 mark. Cassidy Gruning took the puck into the Nor'Easters zone and looped around the net from right to left. Sam Molind waited in front and Gruning managed to slip over a pass, however, it skipped off Molind's stick. Luckily Kennedy was there to tuck the puck past Corcoran and double the distance.  

The Rams managed to skate off a two-minute penalty and held UNE scoreless when it pulled Corcoran to add an extra-skater with 43 seconds to go in regulation to secure the shutout.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• O'Neil registered 19 saves in the cleansheet. 
• Corcoran had a stand-up night despite the setback with a 50-save performance.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Kennedy recorded two points, on one goal and one assist.
• Cote chipped in one goal. 
• Gruning, Molind and Steiner dished out one assist apiece. 
• Suffolk outshot UNE, 52-19. 
• The Rams held the advantage in face-offs, 35-25. 
• Suffolk went 1-for-4 on the power play and successfully played off two penalties.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk moved to 5-1-0 all-time against UNE. 
• The Rams moved to 2-1-0 in Eastie against the Nor'Easters. 
• The shutout is the second in the all-time series between Suffolk and UNE, first since the first-ever meeting, a 2-0 cleansheet in Suffolk's favor, Jan. 11, 2019. 
• The Rams own both cleansheets. 
• Suffolk kept an opponent off the scoreboard for the second time this season.
• O'Neil logged her second career shutout, first since holding Western New England Jan. 14, 2022.
• Cote has registered a point in back-to-back games. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk and UNE are in store for a rematch tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 3 in Biddeford, Maine at 4 p.m.