The Nichols College men's ice hockey team defeated Suffolk, 4-1 in their Saturday afternoon ECAC Northeast matchup at the June Rockwell Levy Rink. Nichols improves to 9-7-1 overall and 3-3-0 in conference games, while Suffolk dips to 5-11-0 overall and 1-5-0 in league play.
The first half of the first period was a back and forth battle as both teams fought for possession of the puck in the neutral zone. Shots were also at a premium as both teams played tough defensively. However, at 13:43 into the first period, Nichols struck first when junior defenseman Drew Palmer (Chelmsford, Mass.) fired a wrist shot from the point giving Nichols the lead. Under a minute later, senior forward Matt Roberts (Merrimac, Mass.) broke away from the defenders to score top shelf on a short-handed breakaway, netting the Bison's nation-leading seventh short-handed goal of the year.
With just over three minutes remaining in the first, Suffolk capitalized on a power play when first year defenseman Jon Stauffer (Landsdale Penn.) wound up for a slap shot to find the net and cut the lead in half. Nichols recaptured its two goal lead when they sophomore Zach Kohn (Hartland, Wis.) won a clean faceoff to senior Matt Sayer (Lowell, Mass.) who continued to push the puck towards the net and beat the goaltender on a back hand shot.
Both teams came out firing on all cylinders in the second, but the goaltenders stood tall turning away all shots that they faced. Each team received two penalties in the period and both teams were strong on the penalty kill.
The third period started out with high levels of intensity with both teams firing shots on net. However, it wasn't until 13:48 into the period when senior forward Will Munson (Corona, Calif.) ripped a slap shot from the point giving Nichols a 4-1 lead on the power play goal.
Junior Jacob Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) stood tall in net recording 33 saves on 34 shots and improves to 6-5-1 on the season. As for Suffolk, senior Jeff Rose (Collinsville, Conn.) posted 41 saves on 45 shots, falling to 4-10-0 on the season.
Nichols travels to Western New England on Thursday with the puck dropping at 7:05 p.m., while Suffolk resumes play at Becker on Wednesday with an 8:20 p.m. start.
(Story courtesy of Nichols College Sports Information)