EAST BOSTON – Suffolk women's hockey used a pair of goals within a 4:09 span early in the third period to break open a 1-all tie and defeat Plymouth State, 3-1, in New England Hockey Conference action Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Rink.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Plymouth State 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (6-3-1, 3-1-1 NEHC) | Plymouth State (2-4-1, 2-2-1 NEHC)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Plymouth State snuck on the board early as Amber Thomas flipped the puck right over Kristen Caporusso's glove from right in front. The sophomore's linemates Taylor Jackson and Brooke Maggy each assisted on the score that came just four minutes into the action.
Suffolk saw its opportunities come on the powerplay. With around eight minutes remaining Jesse Kennedyskated around a cluster in front of Emelie Lindqvist, but the freshman's attempt nicked the left outside post to keep the Panthers in front.
It would not remain that way for long, however, as Sydney Jordan put away her first goal in blue-and-gold. With Haley Poloskey distracting Lindqvist by hanging out on the netminder's glove side, Jordan went stick side and sent it into the back of the netting to level the playing field with 6:51 left in the first period.
The Panthers controlled most of the second stanza and saw a go-ahead chance with seven minutes remaining on the clock. Kristen Caporusso was occupied on the right side saving back-to-back shots from Zoe Killisch. Mackenzie Kennedy picked up the second rebound and fired off two shots of her own with her second sliding into the wide-open left side of the net before Grace Scholz made a defensive sliding block to keep the score locked at 1-all.
Suffolk got the go-ahead on transition as Poloskey picked up a deflected pass and took advantage of Lindqvist coming out of position. The Rams' rookie sniped her shot from just inside the blue line to put the blue-and-gold ahead 2-1 3:06 into the third frame.
Nearly four minutes later Suffolk added cushion to its advantage. Tess Adams skated with Scholz on the breakaway. Adams burst down the left side of the ice, drawing Lindqvist too her and the senior skater slipped it to Scholz on the right, who tucked it away, to make it a two-goal margin.
The Rams remained in front and backed up Caporusso in net as the Panthers made a last-ditch effort to chip away at the deficit pulling their goal with 3:15 remaining. PSU saw more opportunities as Kennedy went in the box with 1:41 on the board for tripping, but the hosts held on for the 3-1 conference triumph.
NETMINDER NOTES
- Caporusso secured the win in between the pipes with 28 saves, one stop shy of her career-high.
- Lindqvist suffered the setback for the Panthers despite a 20-save performance.
- Alex Rajsigl came on in relief for PSU and stopped seven shots over her 9:30 minutes of action.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Jordan, Poloskey and Scholz each scored for Suffolk with Adams dishing out the lone assist for the Rams.
- Suffolk held a slim margin in shots, 30-29.
- Plymouth won the battle in the face-off dot, 42-21.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk and Plymouth State met for the first time.
- Jordan scored her first goal at Suffolk.
- Scholz put away her first collegiate goal.
- Poloskey had the first game-winner of her career.
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will be back in front of its home crowd tomorrow, Saturday, Dec. 1 when Southern Maine stops by Eastie for a 5:20 p.m. conference contest.