EAST BOSTON – Suffolk women's hockey's early advantage would not be enough as Nichols battled back and scored two unanswered goals in the third period to tie things up at 3-3, which remained through overtime to have the Conference of New England (CNE) contest end in a draw Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. The Rams went on to grab the shootout, 2-1. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | Nichols 3
RECOREDS: Suffolk (7-8-1, 5-4-1 CNE) | Nichols (5-10-2, 2-6-2 CNE)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Laurel Potter lit the lamp at the 15:41 mark of the first frame to give Suffolk the early edge. Alessia DiSilvestro and the freshman zoomed ahead on a 2-on-1 and Potter potted the game-opening goal. Katie Newkirk had a hand in the marker.  

A shorthanded strike lengthened the lead for the Rams. Maddie Gagliano snuck the man-down goal away 4:11 into the middle period to pad the margin to a pair. Bella Schmidt helped set-up the strike. 

Nichols knocked down the deficit to one at the 14:38 mark of the second. Melissa Montesi found the back of the net with help from Alesxis Pacheco and Sienna Reeves to cut Suffolk's cushion to one, 2-1. 

Suffolk restored the two-goal gap 8:37 into the third. Cassie Borowski sniped a shot past McKenzie Muir to make it a 3-1 game. Jenna Caballero and Anya Nichipor aided in to the strike. 

That distance was short lived as Taylor Breen responded for the Bison 3:38 later to make it a 3-2 Suffolk game with less than eight minutes left on the clock.   

A new game was present 2:40 later when Anneliese Klein evened things at 3-all when she converted an Alexis Pacheco pass into the game-tying goal.  

Both netminders did their jobs down the stretch to keep things locked at 3-all at the end of regulation. 

The Bison had the upper hand in the overtime as a Ram was whistled for a major with just three seconds left of the third period.  

Thankfully for the blue-and-gold, Katelyn Michals denied all six shots she faced to preserve the stalemate.  

Michals denied Alexis Pacheco's shot that opened the shootout to give the Rams the advantage before Katie Newirk made her shot. Kasey Litwin put the Bison on the board and Sammy Lassman kept the lead for the Rams and Michaels stopped Klein to lock up the 2-1 shootout win.  

NETMINER NOTES

• Michals registered a 37-save effort. 
• McKenzie Muir notched 29 saves in the draw.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Borowski, Gagliano and Potter scored one goal each for Suffolk. 
• Di Silvestro, Newkirk, Schmidt, Caballero and Nichipor handed out one assist each.
• Nichols outshot Suffolk, 40-32. 
• The Bison also won the face-off battle, 41-37.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk went to OT for the third time this season. 
• The Rams are unbeaten, 2-0-1, in OT this year. 
• The Rams are now unbeaten over the last 12 games versus the Bison (10-0-2). 
• At home, Suffolk boasts a 5-1-2 record against Nichols. 
• Under Abby Ostrom's guidance, Suffolk sports a 3-0-1 record versus Nichols. 
• Suffolk has yet to fall to Nichols in a conference contest, 10-0-1. 
• Suffolk went into overtime against Nichols for the third time, first since Feb. 4, 2023, a 3-2 Suffolk win. 
• The Rams moved to 1-0-2 versus Nichols in OT. 
• Suffolk scored a shorthanded goal for the first time since putting away three in the 11-0 offensive onslaught of Framingham State, Nov. 23, 2024. 
• Potter produced her first collegiate goal. 
• Borowski, Caballero, DiSilvestro, Gagliano, Nichipor and Potter produced points in back-to-back games. 
• Gagliano had her second career shorthanded goal. It was her fourth goal of the year. 
• Schmidt secured her sixth assist of the year. 
• Borowski netted her fifth goal of the year. 
• Caballero handed out her 12th assist of the season. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk and Nichols will wrap up the home-and-home series tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 25 at 4:40 p.m.