Men’s Hockey Handles Fitchburg State, 4-1

Men’s Hockey Handles Fitchburg State, 4-1

FITCHBURG, Mass. – Four different Rams scored and Will Ribas had a career-night in between the pipes as Suffolk men's hockey returned to the win column with a 4-1 victory over Fitchburg State Tuesday night at the Wallace Civic Center.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Fitchburg State 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (5-9-0) | Fitchburg State (6-5-2)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk opened the scoring with just 39 seconds left in the first frame as Billy Roche gathered a feed from Brian Brooks on the power play to put the Rams on the scoreboard. Sean Henry helped in the freshman's goal as well.  

In the second stanza the Rams upped their lead to 3-0 over a 15-second span as Mikhail Bryan and Joseph Mortillaro each potted the puck. Bryan put away his fifth tally of the season at the 4:32 mark of the frame with Mortillaro scoring 15 seconds later.  

Fitchburg State got in on the action in the second period as well as Brandon Ecklund received a pass from Connor McPherson and Patrick Germain to trim Suffolk's edge to 3-1 with 13 minutes remaining before the second intermission.  

Suffolk secured the victory with roughly two and a half minutes left in regulation as LJ Fellows connected on an empty netter for the final 4-1 margin.  

NETMINDER NOTES

  • Ribas picked up 34 saves in the victory, his first of the season. 
  • Matthew Stephan stopped 43 shots for the Falcons in his first collegiate start.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

  • Nine different Rams recorded a point in the victory. 
  • Bryan, Fellows, Mortillaro and Roche each scored one goal for Suffolk. 
  • Tommy Bishop,Brooks, Jack Kelly, Henry and Sean Montgomery all tallied one assist in the win. 
  • Suffolk outshot FSU, 47-35. 
  • The Falcons edged out the Rams in the face-off circle, 25-24.  

NOTEWORTHY

  • Suffolk and Fitchburg State renewed a rivalry, meeting for the first time since 2009. 
  • Ribas made a career-high 34 saves. 
  • Ribas picked up his first collegiate win. 
  • Roche scored his first collegiate goal. 
  • Fellows notched his first goal of the season.
  • Mortillaro extended his point streak to three straight games. Over that stretch he scored two goals and handed out one assist. 
  • Kelly pushed his point streak to three consecutive contests in which he notched three points on two goals and one handout. 
  • Montgomery has dished out at least one assist in back-to-back games. 
  • Henry notched his first point of the season with one set-up.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S TO COME?
Suffolk is set for a New England Hockey Conference home-and-home series with Johnson & Wales this weekend. The Rams will first welcome the Wildcats to Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink Friday, Jan. 11 for a 7 p.m. showdown before the blue-and-gold hits the road the next day, Saturday, Jan. 12 for a 4 p.m. puck drop in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.