The Johnson & Wales University hockey team regained a tie for first place in the ECAC Northeast with a 4-2 victory against Suffolk in a league contest at the RI Sports Center on Sunday afternoon.

Johnson & Wales got on the board early when freshman Christopher Bjork (Gotebord, Sweden) scored his first collegiate goal just 3:45 into the game.  That would be all the scoring for the period as the Wildcats took the 1-0 lead heading into the locker room after the first period of play.

Suffolk responded at the 11:34 mark of the second period after a power play goal by junior J. Andrew Wein (Barnegat, N.J.), tying the game at 1-1.  The two teams took the tie game into the locker room after two periods of play.

In the third stanza, Johnson & Wales sophomore Jason Pietrasiak (Shrewsbury, Mass.) scored a power play goal with assists to junior Domenic Recchia (Sterling Heights, Mich.) and senior Joe Simeone (Cranston, R.I.), giving the Wildcats the 2-1 advantage at the 9:37 mark.  The visiting Rams responded quickly as freshman Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.) tallied an unassisted goal at the 12:13 mark, knotting the game at 2-2.  It was a short lived tie, however as junior Jeremiah Ketts (Foristell, Mo.) took a pass from freshman Ryan Sell (Riga, Mich.) and sophomore Max Carter (Royal Oak, Mich.) near the blue line and split four Suffolk penalty killers to score a power play goal at 12:27.  That goal would prove to be the game-winner.  The Wildcats added an insurance goal on Pietrasiak's empty netter at 19:38 en route to the 4-2 victory.

Sophomore Matt Cooper (Perrysburg, Ohio.) made 26 saves for JWU in the victory while Jeff Rose (Collinsville, Conn.) had 26 stops for Suffolk.

With the win Johnson & Wales is now 9-9-1 overall and 6-2-0 in the ECAC Northeast while Suffolk falls to 6-12 for the season, 2-6 in league play.  JWU will return to action on Thursday, February 3rd when they travel to Wentworth for an ECAC Northeast contest at 8:15 p.m.
Suffolk hosts Salve Regina on Wednesday at Walter Brown Arena.

(Story courtesy of Johnson & Wales Athletic Communications)