BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk men's hockey returned to the win column in historic fashion as the Rams captured its first-ever victory over Endicott, defeating the Gulls, 4-3, Tuesday afternoon at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Endicott 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-5-0) | Endicott (5-3-0)
HOW IT HAPPENED
In a back-and-forth opening frame, each netminder took care of business to keep things scoreless, but things changed over the final two and a half minutes.
BrianBrooks chipped in the puck at the 17:49 minute mark with help from Matt Bucher to give the blue-and-gold an early one-goal edge. That lead was short lived as the Gulls answered 27 seconds later. Off the face-off Matt Giroux and Svet Kuchynski set up James Winkler, who restored a level playing field at 1-1 with 1:42 remaining before the first intermission.
Things remained even at one goal apiece until the 8:50 minute mark of the middle period when Billy Roche converted a pass from Devin Lowe into his second goal of the season to push the Rams in front for the second time on the day.
Endicott once again had a chance quickly after Suffolk's score once again as Jake Simons went one-on-one with Nathan Pickett in a penalty shot opportunity 16 seconds later. The freshman goalie maintained his composure and gobbled up the game-tying attempt.
As the period approached the midway point Suffolk was whistled for too many men on the ice, which gave the Gulls their second power play of the afternoon. The Rams used the man-down momentum to their advantage instead as Nick Lachaine scored to stretch the margin to two, 3-1, at the 12:36 minute mark. Lowe and Miller Rubin had a hand in the rookie's first collegiate goal.
Just over five minutes into the third period Suffolk extended the distance even further. Nine seconds after Eric Manoukian took a seat in the penalty box for slashing, the Rams capitalized with the extra skater as Bucher found the back of the net thanks to help by Rubin and Henry Bishop. Bucher's first goal of the season made it a 4-1 Suffolk game with just under 15 minutes remaining in regulation.
The Gulls made a late push. Mitch Shaheen sliced the distance in half at the midway point of the third. Luke Rodgers trimmed the deficit down to one at the 16:22 minute mark.
Suffolk's defense took over from there to maintain the 4-3 score in its favor. Pickett took care of business in between the pipes, save all five shots he faced and Lachaine blocked Zach Mazur's attempt with less than five seconds to go to secure the win.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Pickett produced a 40-save effort to improve to 2-2-0 on the year.
- Elijah Harris made 19 stops for the Gulls.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Three Rams had two-point performances in Bucher (1g, 1a), Lowe (2a) and Rubin (2a).
- Brooks, Lachaine and Roche each scored one goal for Suffolk.
- Bishop handed out one assist.
- Endicott outshot Suffolk, 43-23, and won more face-offs, 44-26.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk defeated Endicott for the first time in program history.
- The four goals against the Gulls marks the most in program history for the Rams, upstaging the previous set mark of three, which was latest achieved Feb. 7, 2018.
- Bishop and Lachaine each recorded their first collegiate points. Bishop had one assist and Lachaine scored one goal.
- Lachaine was the first Ram to score a shorthanded strike since Phil Kreuser did so last season at then-No. 11/13 Hobart Feb. 9, 2019.
- Lowe registered personal-bests in assists (2) and points (2).
- Rubin matched a career-high two assists.
- Bucher matched a personal-best two points.
POST-GAME PIC
COMING UP
Following the Thanksgiving Day holiday, the Rams will play in the Steve Hoar Invitational. Action gets underway Saturday, Nov. 30 with Suffolk playing Wilkes at 5:30 p.m. The time and opponent of Sunday's showdown depends on Saturday's outcomes with the blue-and-gold taking on either Becker or Franklin Pierce.