WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – For the first time in the all-time series Suffolk women's hockey and Western New England needed overtime to decide a winner and the Rams prevailed in the Conference of New England (CNE) contest, 4-3, Saturday night at Olympia Ice Center. Kate Pohl potted the game-winning goal with 2:50 left on the clock in OT.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Western New England 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-8-0, 5-4-0 CNE) | Western New England (10-6-0, 4-5-0 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Western New England scored 6:00 minutes into the contest on the power play to take the early advantage.  

A Rams response came 4:42 later. Aiden Levee-Oshiro won a face-off at the right dot in the Golden Bears' zone. Maddie Gagliano picked up the puck and quickly snapped a shot on target to level the playing field at 1-all. 

Suffolk went ahead 3:35 into the second period. Down in the corner, Leslie Steiner used the boards to get the puck out of Suffolk's zone. Laurel Potter picked it up and brought it towards the neutral zone where Alessia Di Silvestrograbbed it and zoomed down the ice for a one-on-one with WNE's netminder Kayla Ireland. Di Silvestro caught the Golden Bear off guard and tucked the puck away to give the blue-and-gold the 2-1 upper hand. 

The Rams lengthened their lead 1:33 into the third period. Jenna Caballero took a shot that hit the post. Suffolk regained possession, but in its own zone. Caballero tipped it to Cassie Borowski, who dished ahead to Anya Nichipor, who was open for a clear path with Ireland. Nichipor netted the transition goal to pad the margin to a pair, 3-1.  

That margin was short lived as the Golden Bears got a goal back 3:40 later when Allison Walker found the back of the net with help from Maddie Pope and Michaela Birmingham to cut Suffolk's edge to one, 3-2.

Ten minutes later WNE tied things at three-all thanks to Valerie DuVal, which called for an interesting final four minutes.   

Both sides managed to put one shot on target down the stretch and the respective netminders turned aside the attempts to keep things locked at 3-3 at the end of regulation.  

The Rams started the extra session with an extra skater due to a late Western New England penalty. Suffolk was unable to capitalize on the power play, but momentum remained in the blue-and-gold's favor and Pohl put away her own rebound to push the blue-and-gold to the 4-3 overtime victory.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Katelyn Michals recorded 28 saves in the victory. 
• Ireland had 32 saves to her credit in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Pohl produced the game-winning goal. 
• Nichipor had a two-point stat line evenly divided between goals (1) and assists (1). 
• Borowski also notched two goals with two helpers. 
• Di Silvestro and Gagliano both scored one goal. 
• Caballero, Levee-Oshiro, Potter and Steiner all handed out one assist. 
• Suffolk outshot Western New England, 69-54 including a 36-31 advantage in shots on goal. 
• The Rams won the face-off battle, 29-25. 
• WNE's defense blocked 16 shots, while Suffolk's defenders stepped in front of seven shots.   

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk and Western New England exceeded regulation for the first time in the all-time series. 
• Suffolk defeated WNE for the first time since Jan. 26, 2024, a 2-0 win. 
• The Rams moved to 7-4-0 all-time versus the Golden Bears. 
• Suffolk moved to 3-3-0 versus WNE on the road. 
• Suffolk is now 2-3-0 versus WNE in the Abby Ostrom era. 
• The four goals scored against the Golden Bears is the most for the Rams since it poured in five in a 5-0 cleansheet Jan. 27, 2023. 
• The Rams went into overtime to decide a winner for the second time this season. 
• Suffolk is 2-0-0 in OT outings in 2024-25. 
• The Rams moved to 3-0-2 in OT games in the Ostrom era. 
• Levee-Oshiro logged her first assist of the season. 
• Borowski notched a personal-best two assists. 
• Gagliano scored her third goal of the season. 
• Potter produced her first collegiate point on one assist. 
• Di Silvestro scored her first goal of the year. 
• Caballero contributed her 10 assist of the campaign. 
• Pohl recorded her first game-winning goal in a Suffolk sweater. The marker was her sixth of the season. 
• Nichipor had her fourth multi-point game of the season.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
A home-and-home series with Nichols is next for Suffolk. The Rams will host the Bison Friday, Jan. 24 at 6:00 p.m., before hitting the road Saturday, Jan. 25 for a 4:40 p.m. showdown.