Posted: Dec 01, 2012
Freshman Carmen Mastrangelo(Wellington, Fla.) netted a pair of goals, while fellow freshman Brandon Smolarek(Chesterfield, Mo.) stopped 38 of 39 shots to earn his first collegiate win in leading Suffolk to a 6-1 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Nichols Saturday afternoon at Steriti Rink.
The host Rams (4-4-2, 2-2-1 ECAC Northeast) jumped out to a 1-0 first period advantage on sophomore Tim Benedetto's (Peabody, Mass.) before using three goals in a 2:45 span midway through the second stanza to take control of the contest, as sophomore Tim Sprague's (Plymouth, Mass.) shorthanded marker and a Mastrangelo power play tally sandwiched an unassisted goal by sophomore Scott Mathieu(Raynham, Mass.) extended Suffolk's edge to 4-0 after 40 minutes of play. Mastrangelo's second marker of the game just 48 seconds into the final period, coupled with junior Charlie McGinnis's (Hanover, Mass.) power play goal with 12:40 to play, closed out the hosts' scoring, as freshman Daniel Bufis(Linden, N.J.) accounted for the visiting Bison's (6-3, 3-2 ECAC Northeast) lone tally of the day 8:55 into the final frame on assists from freshmen Steve Lecey(Cedarburg, Wis.) and Colin Edwards(Winchester, Mass.).
Mathieu added an assist to finish with two points in the triumph for the Rams, who also received single helpers off the sticks of juniors Wes Bonnell(Flenton, Del.) and Jon Stauffer(Landsdale, Pa.) as well as sophomore Andrew Ball(Brick, N.J.). Smolarek made 18 of his saves in the second period of action between the pipes for Suffolk, while freshman Alex Larson(Madison, Ala.) made 19 stops in 47-plus minutes of play in the setback for Nichols, which also received five saves over the final 12-plus minutes of action from freshman Patrick Salkind(Springfield, Va.). The Bison outshot the Rams by a 39-30 margin for the contest, including a 32-20 edge over the final 40 minutes.
Suffolk hosts Stonehill in a non-league outing on Wednesday evening at Steriti Rink beginning at 7:25 p.m., while Nichols heads to Utica, N.Y. next Saturday evening to square off with Utica in a non-league match-up that faces off at 7:00 p.m.