The Suffolk University Hockey team dropped a 5-3 decision to the Western New England University Golden Bears in ECAC Northeast action on Thursday evening.

Junior John Kelly (Staten Island, N.Y.) netted a pair of consecutive goals to lead the Golden Bears as they improve to a 8-5 mark in ECAC Northeast conference action and 11-13 overall mark on the year.

The loss drops Suffolk to 6-13-5 on the year and 3-7-3 in league action. The Rams now face a crucial must-win situation on Saturday to keep their playoff hopes alive as they host Becker College at Steriti Rink beginning at 4:25pm.

Senior Steve Drago (Waltham, Mass.) netted a goal midway through the third period to cut the Golden Bears' lead down by a pair at 5-3 but that was the final offensive tally of the evening for either side.

Kelly opened the third period scoring his second goal of the night at the 10:30 mark as he took feeds from junior Brian Prost (Parma, Ohio) and sophomore Brandon Stroud (Clarksville, Ind.).

The trio combined late in the second period at the 12:44 mark with an even-strength goal which turned out to be the game winner giving Western New England a 4-2 lead at the time.

Kelly finished the night with a pair of goals and an assist, while Stoud opened the scoring in the contest in the first period registering his 14^th goal of the year. He also added a pair of assists on the evening.

Prost recorded a hat trick in helpers on the evening to help lift the Golden Bears.

Freshman Tyler Murray (Houston, Tex.) and sophomore Richard Woodworth (Carlisle, Mass.) each tallied goals on the night for the Rams.

Juniors Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.) and Jon Stauffer (Landsdale, Pa.) each had a pair of assists for Suffolk.

Suffolk held a slim margin in shots on goal in the game with a 34-31 total.

Senior T.J. Fatse (Hamden, Mass.) made 31 saves in goal for the Golden Bears.

Sophomore Brett Roman (Rock Tavern, N.Y.) pushed aside 28 shots, before giving way to freshman Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mo.) for the final eight minutes of the game. Smolarek stopped all four shots he faced.