EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's hockey returned to the win column Friday night as Rams took down Western New England, 4-1, at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. Peter Nugent's career-high two-goal night led the winning effort in an outing that Suffolk donned gray-and-white camo sweaters to recognized and honor past, present and future members of the military.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Western New England 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-10-2, 4-9-1 CCC) | Western New England (6-11-1, 4-9-1 CCC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Nugent got the Rams' goals going 7:01 into the action. On the power play, the host worked the puck around the WNE zone waiting for the right time to strike. From the point, Samuel Rand dished to Ryan Harrigan in the right face-off dot, who quickly crossed the puck to a waiting Nugent in the opposite face off circle. The XXX sent a one-timer to the back of the twine to give Suffolk the one-goal edge to held onto through the first 20 minutes.
Garcia Dalton evened the playing field 1:23 into the second stanza on a power play of his own with help from Cam Gaylor and Jason Diamond.
With things deadlocked at 1-all after 40 minutes of action, Nugent wasted little time to pot the go-ahead marker. This time, the Rams stole the puck in transition in the neutral zone and quickly zoomed towards Lancaster in the Golden Bears' cage. Harrigan and Griffin Clark went back-and-forth before Nugent slid in front at just the right time to tuck the puck in.
Phil Decresce extended the advantage about nine minutes later when he fired a shot from just inside the blue line that was too much for Lancaster to handle. Max Rand and Tyler Anastasi aided in the marker that came off the face off to help Suffolk go up by two, 3-1.
In a last-ditch effort to comeback, Western New England pulled Lancaster from between the post with 1:50 remaining in regulation. Suffolk kept the pressure up and once again intercept a WNE pass in the neutral zone. This time, Cole Scott slapped shot towards the net from the neutral zone and it slid pass the line to push the margin to 4-1.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Cal Wilcox turned aside 23 of the 24 shots he faced.
- Lancaster registered a 35-save effort.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Nugent logged two goals.
- Harrigan assisted on both of Nugent's strikes.
- Decresce and Scott had one goal apiece.
- Samuel Rand, Anastasi, Clark and Ryan Webb each chipped in one assist.
- Suffolk outshot WNE, 39-24.
- The Golden Bears won the face off battle, 37-32.
- The blue-and-gold went 1-for-4 on the power play, while WNE went 1-for-3 with a man-up.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk moved to 23-13-5 all-time versus Western New England.
- The Rams defeated the Golden Bears for the first time since Feb. 1, 2022, a 4-2 triumph.
- Suffolk moved to 12-6-1 when hosting WNE.
- The Rams are unbeaten, 1-0-1, against WNE in the Shawn McEachern era.
- The three-goal margin of victory ties largest for Suffolk this season, which was set in a 6-3 triumph at Nichols, Nov. 11, 2022.
- Suffolk took down Western New England by three or more goals for the first time since it shutout the Golden Bears, 5-0, Nov. 18, 2017.
- Nugent recorded a career-high two goals and tied a personal-best two points.
- Harrigan matched a career-high in assists (2) and points (2).
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk looks to secure remain unbeaten versus Western New England this year and sweep the CCC home-and-home series tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 28 when it takes on the Golden Bears at the Olympia Ice Center in Springfield, Massachusetts at 7 p.m.
