Junior Tim Coffman (Elverson, N.Y.) netted a goal and two assists to lead 11th-ranked Utica to a 6-1 non-league college ice hockey victory over Suffolk Saturday evening at Walter Brown Arena.
The visiting Pioneers (12-4) overcame an early one-goal deficit, as after the host Rams (4-9) had taken a 1-0 lead 10:44 into the contest on sophomore Andrew Monesi's (Boston, Mass.) marker, freshman Jordan Hobaica (Clinton, N.Y.) converted a Coffman feed to even matters for Utica with just over a minute to play in the opening stanza. Coffman gave the Pioneers the lead for good 2:50 into the middle frame, and sophomore Eric Peterson's (Newton, N.H.) power play tally at the 13:10 mark extended the visitors' edge to 3-1 after 40 minutes of action. Utica iced its triumph with three goals in just over five minutes midway through the final period, as sophomore Josh Schmitt's (Buffalo, N.Y.) power play marker was sandwiched by tallies off the sticks of freshmen Steve Charest (Amqui, Que.) and Adam Graff (Bear, Del.) that closed out the scoring.
Hobaica, Schmidt and Charest each finished with a goal and an assist in the win for Utica, which also received a pair of helpers from freshman Steve Zappia (Buffalo, N.Y.) as well as single assists off the sticks of sophomore Evan Chlanda (Islip, N.Y.) and freshmen Jon Gaffney (Dover, N.J.) and Nick Geraci (Manalapan, N.J.), while sophomore Matt Robertson (Whitman, Mass.) collected the lone helper on Monesi's marker for Suffolk.
Freshman Nick Therrien (Rochester, N.H.) picked up the win in goal for Utica with 15 saves over the final 49-plus minutes of action in relief of fellow freshman Evan Smith (Penticton, B.C.), who made three stops in the first 10:44 of play. Senior Jeff Rose (Collinsville, Conn.) registered a career-high 55 saves in 55-plus minutes in the setback for Suffolk, which also received three stops over the final five-plus minutes from freshman Cam Kelley (Brighton, Mass.), as the Pioneers outshot the Rams by a 64-19 margin for the contest.
Suffolk hosts Tufts in a non-league outing on Tuesday evening at Walter Brown Arena beginning at 6:30 p.m., while Utica will head across town Sunday afternoon to square off with Wentworth in a non-league contest at Matthews Arena that faces off at 5:45 p.m.