BOSTON -  Senior Shane Totten netted a pair of goals and an assist, while fellow senior Daniel Bufis added a marker and a pair of helpers to lead Nichols to a 5-1 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Suffolk Wednesday evening at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.

 

Totten and sophomore Scott Cuthrell each tallied in a 1:39 span early in the second period to snap a 1-1 deadlock and give the visiting Bison (16-8, 11-4 ECAC Northeast) the lead for good, as Totten added his second goal of the night with 8:53 remaining in the middle stanza to extend Nichols's lead to 4-1.  Freshman Blake Kelley iced the visitors' triumph with a 4-on-4 marker that came with 6:45 to play in the contest, as the win enabled the Bison to remain a point ahead of second-place Endicott in the league standings heading into the final weekend of regular season play.

 

Senior Justin Selep had given the host Rams (13-9-2, 8-6-2 ECAC Northeast) the early lead with his 16th goal of the season on feeds from sophomore Shayne Bailey and freshman Mikhail Bryan just 5:06 into the contest, but Bufis evened matters midway through the opening frame for Nichols with his fifth tally of the winter, setting up Totten's second period heroics and beginning a run of five unanswered markers for the visitors.

 

Juniors Sean Swansen and Michael Parnell collected single assists in the win for the Bison, as senior Alex Larson picked up his 14th victory of the season by stopping 32 of 33 shots on the evening while also assisting on Totten's first tally.  Senior Brandon Smolarek made 31 saves in the setback for Suffolk, as Nichols outshot the Rams by a 36-33 margin for the contest.

 

Suffolk will be seeded fourth in the upcoming ECAC Northeast championships and will host a quarterfinal round contest on Sunday, Feb. 28 at O'Neil Rink beginning at 7:00 p.m., as the Rams will face either Johnson & Wales or Wentworth.