Suffolk women’s hockey hit a sophomore slump early on in its second varsity season.
The Rams were battled tested with stiffer non-conference competition including an opening weekend trip to Nazareth for a two-game series.
The experienced Golden Flyers flew past the blue-and-gold in both outings, foreshadowing a tough first month on the ice, that saw Suffolk sit 2-6-2.
With two more marks in the loss column to start December, the Rams turned things around with a 7-3 triumph over Salem State that featured the programs’ first hat trick, recorded by Meaghan MacNeil. That historic outing jump started three wins in a row to push the squad into the mid-year break with a 5-8-2 mark.
The season continued to be a story of highs and lows. A peak weekend featured an eight-goal shutout against Johnson & Wales January 24, with a Special Olympics game versus UMass Boston following the next night.
From there the Rams went on a stretch of four skids in a row with playoff contention drifting away as the final regular-season contest loomed.
A 5-1 victory over Plymouth State February 15 secured Suffolk's spot in the postseason for the second time in as many years and in program history. That win turned everything around for Taylor Wasylk’s Rams.
Being the lower seed sent the Rams on the road, but that only fueled the fire.
A trip to Pawtucket, Rhode Island saw the sixth seed score twice in the first period to shutout the third-seed Wildcats of Johnson & Wales, 2-0.
A week later, the semis sent Suffolk to the fourth-seeded Huskies of Southern Maine. A tied 1-all game was broken up by Izzy Hendry’s power play goal half way through the third that proved to be the game winner and punch a ticket to the championship contest.
In the up-and-down campaign, Suffolk had one more thing to grab, the NEHC trophy. In order to do so it had to do what it had never done before, beat Norwich. The Rams scored first, and erased a 1-all tie with their second strike of the day in Northfield, Vermont, but the No. 7 Cadets potted eight unanswered to keep the crown in their possession and end Suffolk’s season one game shy of NCAAs.
THROUGH THE LENS
In its second third-jersey game in program history, Suffolk skated for the Special Olympics January 25, 2020 against UMass Boston.
The contest brought awareness and raised funds for the Massachusetts Special Olympics with a ceremonial puck drop featuring Special Olympians.
The Rams wore red, white and blue jerseys with the Special Olympics logo on the chest.
nehc second-team spot
Maddy Burton was a much appreciated addition to Suffolk's squad. The transfer from Merrimack totaled 20 points in the regular-season, split evenly between goals and assists.
The junior was the program's second-ever skater to produce a hat trick, accomplishing the feat in Suffolk's 8-0 shutout of Johnson & Wales, which marked the team's highest goal output versus a league foe in the Rams' record books.
nehc third-team nod
For the second time in as many seasons Shana Cote earned a place on the All-NEHC Third-Team.
In the sophomore's regular-season, Cote assembled 19 points off a team-best 11 goals to go along with eight helpers.
ALL-ROOKIE TEAM
Julia McLellan quickly became the go-to goalie for the blue-and-gold in her freshman campaign.
In the regular-season she appeared in 19 of the Rams' 25 games, starting 17. The Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan's native produced a 3.24 GAA and .898 save percentage. Overall she turned aside 494 shots, highlighted by a record-setting 52-save effort in a 1-1 draw against Trinity January 5, 2020.
For her stand-up showing in between the posts she earned a spot on the NEHC All-Rookie Team.
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
Grace Scholz was a crucial player in Suffolk's NEHC postseason run. She posted a two-point line over the three games off one strike and one handout.
The sophomore's first point came off a secondary assist in the semis on Maddy Burton's game-opening goal.
A week later, Scholz scored the first goal of the championship contest. She is just one of three Rams' to find the back of the net against the Cadets in program history.
ACADEMIC ACCOLADES
Suffolk had 12 student-athletes recognized for their academic success with spots on the 2019-20 New England Women’s Hockey (NEHC) All-Academic Team.
The honor is bestowed on student-athletes who are in their second season at an institution with a cumulative grade point average of 3.0 or great.
The Rams' honorees, all of who are members of Suffolk's sophomore class, earned the distinction for the first time; Shane Cote, Payton Dockus, Molly Dowd, Madison Duff, Izzy Hendry, Jesse Kennedy, Stephanie Moy, Haley Poloskey, Natasha Savage, Madison Scheinberg, Kiley Searles and Julia Volpe.
#Kindnesscounts
Suffolk women’s hockey partnered with Autism Speaks in the #KindnessCounts movement.
After hosting their inaugural third-jersey game, which sponsored Autism Awareness February 2, 2019, Taylor Wasylk’s squad was searching for ways to get more involved in World Autism Month.
Thea team partook in an Instagram video where they announced that the entire team will be participating in and raising funds for the Autism Speaks Walk on the Boston Common come October.