EAST BOSTON – Meagan McNeil became the first player in program history to score a hat trick, which anchored seven unanswered Rams goals to that throttled Suffolk women's hockey past Salem State, 7-3, Saturday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 7 | Salem State 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (3-8-2, 3-3-1 NEHC) | Salem State (2-7-1, 2-4-1 NEHC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Salem built a 3-0 lead after the first 20 minutes as Kerryann Good, Kylie Currier and Casie Curtin all potted the puck for the visitors.  

Good started the scoring 5:46 into the action on the power play with help from Abby Stafford. The one-goal game remained for nearly 10 minutes until Currier converted a fast-break into Salem State's second goal of the night at the 15:17 minute mark. Curtin added to the first frame scoring frenzy with her own man-up strike with 2:37 remaining in the opening period. Ally Webster and Carolyn Mahoney helped on the marker that put the blue-and-gold in a three-goal hole as it headed to the locker room for the first time.  

Suffolk had a lot of ground to make up in the middle period and did just that and then some with four goals to grab a one-goal edge at the second intermission.  

MacNeil sparked the comeback with her first collegiate goal at the 4:02 minute mark on a set-up by Payton Dockus. Seven minutes later Emily Johnston's unassisted marker cut the gap to one and five minutes after that Cassidy Gruning made it a new game as she potted the puck. Grace Scholz and Molly Dowd aided to the game-tying goal.  

The Rams did not stop there as MacNeil found the back of the net for the second time on the night at with 2:33 left in the second period to push the hosts ahead, 4-3. Madison Ricardo registered an assist on the eventual game-winner.  

Suffolk's scoring carried into the final frame when Shana Cote put her name on the stat sheet with her fifth goal of the year 3:46 out of the locker room to add to the Rams' advantage. Haley Poloskey set-up the score that made it a 5-3 blue-and-gold game.  

The Rams kept their skates on the gas and added insurance when Maddy Burton converted passes from Gruning and Madison Duff into the Suffolk's sixth goal of the night.  

McNeil's milestone momentum came with 17 seconds left on the clock. The junior's third goal of the night and of the season made it a 7-3 game.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Julia McLellan registered 24 saves for the victory. 
• Sarah Plourde had 30 stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• MacNeil's three-goal effort paced Suffolk's offense. 
• Gruning put together a two-point stat line divided between goals (1) and assists (1). 
• Burton, Cote and Johnston all found the back of the net for the blue-and-gold. 
• Dockus, Duff, Ricardo and Scholz each handed out one assist for the Rams. 
• Suffolk out shot Salem State, 37-27, and won the face-off battle, 40-38. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Salem State for the second time in program history, first since Jan. 19, 2019. 
• The Rams moved to 2-1-1 all-time against the Vikings. 
• Both of Suffolk's triumphs over SSU have come in Eastie. 
• The four-goal triumph over the Vikings is the largest margin of victory for Suffolk in the all-time series. 
• MacNeil recorded her first goal in a Suffolk sweater.
• MacNeil became the first player in program history to net three goals in one game.  
• McLellan produced her first collegiate win in net. 
• Gruning matched a career-high two points and dished out her first collegiate assist.   

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk is back in Eastie next weekend when Southern Maine stops by Porrazzo Rink Friday, Dec. 13 for a 4:30 p.m. puck drop.