Freshman goaltender Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mo.) stopped 31 of 32 shots faced to lead Suffolk to a 3-1 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Western New England Saturday afternoon at Steriti Rink.

Junior Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.) staked the host Rams (6-7-3, 3-2-1 ECAC Northeast) to an early 1-0 edge just 27 seconds into action on a feed from freshman Tyler Murray (Houston, Tex.), and sophomore Tim Benedetto (Peabody, Mass.) extended that margin to 2-0 just 1:52later on assists from junior Jon Stauffer (Lansdale, Pa.) and freshman David Lazaro (Canton, Mass.).  Junior Alan Martin (Monson, Mass.) sliced the visiting Golden Bears' (6-10, 4-2 ECAC Northeast) deficit in half with an unassisted shorthanded tally that came with 11 seconds to play in the opening period, but sophomore Tim Sprague (Plymouth, Mass.) restored Suffolk's two-goal lead with 5:55 remaining in the middle frame, as he converted feeds from Lazaro and sophomoreCreg Cook (South Lancaster, Mass.) for what proved to be the final score of the contest.

Smolarek made 22 saves over the final 40 minutes of action to pick up the victory between the pipes for the Rams, while sophomore Tim Carr (Pine Bush, N.Y.) made 34 stops in the setback for Western New England as Suffolk outshot the Golden Bears by a 37-32 margin for the afternoon.

Suffolk hosts Johnson & Wales in an ECAC Northeast outing on Wednesday evening at Steriti Rink that faces off at 7:25 p.m., while Western New England heads to Framingham, Mass. on Tuesday evening to take on Framingham State in a non-league contest that begins at 7:20 p.m.