BOSTON – The Suffolk men's hockey team caps off the 2016 portion of its schedule as the Rams make the trip to Salem State Thursday, Dec. 8 for a 7 p.m. non-league contest at Rockett Ice Arena. 

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LAST TIME OUT
In its final home contest of 2016, the Suffolk men's hockey team suffered a 5-2 setback as SNHU relied on freshman Jared Goudreau's first collegiate hat trick to take down the Rams in non-league action Tuesday night at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink. 

MORE READING: SNHU Takes Down Men's Hockey, 5-2

RUNDOWN ON THE RAMS
Suffolk has yet to find the consistent key in a win streak this season as the Rams take a 3-7-3 record to the Northshore. 

The blue and gold's 30-goal offense has seen 16 different skaters put a goal away with sophomores Tommy Bishop and Justin Holilday leading the way with five scores apiece. Bishop also excels in setting up Suffolk tallies with the forward dishing out a team-best seven assists for 12 points. 

Michael Levine has been the most consistent staple in net for the Rams. The sophomore has faced 350 shots in 11 appearances, stopping 314 and letting in 36 for a .897 save percentage and 3.71 GAA, respectively. Recently, Kevin Venturoso has seen more action between the pipes with the senior playing in five games and matching Levine's save percentage of .897 with 96 stops and 11 goals allowed (3.89 GAA).  

VIKINGS VIEWS
Salem State, who is unbeaten in its last three outings, is coming off a scoreless tie versus Worcester State that put the Vikings at 4-4-1 on the year. 

The Vikings have found the back of the net 35 times this season and limited their opponents to 28 scores. Brandon Platt paces Salem's offensive attack with six scores, while Daniel Campbell boasts a team best 12 points on one score and a team-high 11 handouts. 

Two netminders have seen action for Salem this season with Jason Pucciarelli playing the majority of minutes. He sits at 3-2-1 on the year with 214 saves (.911) and 21 goals allowed (2.64 GAA). Marcus Zelzer, meanwhile, holds a 1-1-0 ledger with 21 stops (.778) and six goals given up (5.33 GAA).  

INSIDE THE SERIES
The Suffolk, Salem State rivalry is fairly new since 1999 with the Rams and Vikings meeting just twice in the last two years. Suffolk has dropped both meetings with Salem State with the Vikings picking up a 5-4 victory over the blue and gold last season. 

EYES ON THE GAME

SHORT-HANDED
Luke Miller's first goal of the season came in short-handed fashion at Western New England Nov. 10. The junior forward is the first Ram to net a man-down score since Justin Selep '16 put one away in a 5-2 win at Nichols Jan. 16, 2016. 

CCC FROZEN FIRST
Simon Leahy's first goal of the season turned out to be a historic one as the senior from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the first player across the CCC to find the back of the netting on the inaugural night of play for the first-year league. Since the tally was on the power play, he added to the historics, as the forward also became the first CCC skater to put one away on the man advantage opportunity. 

CCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Tommy Bishop of the Suffolk men's hockey team will go down in history as the first-ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Player of the Week as the sophomore grabbed the initial award of the inaugural season after a career opening night, the conference office announced Oct. 31.

MORE READING: Bishop Grabs First-Ever CCC Player of the Week Nod

UP NEXT
Suffolk's skates take a break until the New Year when the Rams return to the friendly confines of Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink Saturday, Jan. 7 for a 7:30 p.m. showdown with out of conference Granite State rival Franklin Pierce.