WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Suffolk women's hockey seal its spot in the Conference of New England (CNE) as the fifth-seed Rams took down the fourth-seeded Golden Bears of Western New England in a matinee at the Olympia Ice Center Wednesday.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Western New England 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (10-15-1) | Western New England (13-10-3) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Sam Molind opened the scoring with a shot right from the slot 4:08 into the contest. Anya Nichipor dished to Molind from behind the cage and Liliana Moose had a hand in the game-opening goal.  

Just over six minutes later, Laurel Potter doubled the distance. The freshman took an attempt that flew just over the cross bar. Katie Newkirk regained possession passed to Alessia Di Silvestro, who found a waiting Potter in front. This time Potter's strike connected and made it 2-0 Rams at the 10:25 mark of the first.  

The Rams wasted no time to extend their edge even further in the second stanza as Molind put her second of the day away 1:17 into the middle period. The senior deflected a shot by Moose by Rachael Irving to pad Suffolk's advantage to 3-0. 

The Golden Bears had a great opportunity at the midway point of the middle period as chaos ensued in front of the Rams' net. Thankfully, Katelyn Michals maintained her composure to keep a zero on WNE's side of the board. 

WNE snuck onto the board 4:03 into the third period as Alyssa Murphy chipped in the puck by Michaels.  

The Golden Bears continued to test the blue-and-gold down the stretch. Thankfully for Suffolk, an empty netter by Molind not only completed the hat trick, but added insurance for the Rams to send them to victory. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Michals logged 38 saves in the victory. 
• Irving took the loss. She turned aside 17 shots in 40 minutes of play. 
• Kayla Irving denied all 11 shots she faced in 18:08 of the final period.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Molind poured in a hat trick to pace Suffolk's scoring unit. 
• Potter potted one goal. 
• Moose and Nichipor notched two assists. 
• Di Silvestro, Newkirk, Alexia Hill and Cassie Borowksi had one helper each. 
• Western New England outshot Suffolk, 39-32. 
• The Golden Bears had the upper hand in the face-off dot, 33-31.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk is back in the league postseason after a year hiatus. 
• The Rams are in the midst of their fifth tournament appearance in program history. 
• Suffolk is competing in a conference tournament as the fifth seed for the first time. 
• Suffolk advanced to the semifinals the first time since 2023 and third time overall. 
• Suffolk moved to 5-3-0 in the postseason and 3-1-0 in the CNE Tournament.
• On the road, the Rams are 3-1-0 conference tournament record. 
• Suffolk played in its first road contest in the CNE postseason. 
• Suffolk played in the postseason for the first time under Abby Ostrom's guidance. 
• The Rams won its first CNE First Round game to move to 1-1 in CNE First Round action. 
• Suffolk defeated Western New England for the first time since Jan. 18, 2025. 
• The Rams are now 8-5-0 all-time against WNE.
• On the road, the Rams are 4-3-0 versus WNE. 
• Suffolk holds a 3-4-0 record versus WNE in the Ostrom era. 
• Suffolk and WNE tangled in the CNE postseason or any postseason for the first time. 
• Molind is the first player in Suffolk women's ice hockey history to produce a hat trick in the postseason. 
• Molind notched a personal-best in goals (3) and tied a career-high three points. 
• Nichipor matched a career-high two helpers. 
• Moose has registered a point in three straight games. In that span she has two goals and three helpers. 
• Moose tied a personal-best two assists. 
• Potter scored her second goal of the season. 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk heads to top seed Endicott Saturday, March 1 for a 3:00 p.m. semifinal showdown.