Sophomore Carmen Mastrangelo's (Wellington, Fla.) goal 3:19 into the third period proved to be the game-winner and backed a 39-save performance from fellow sophomore Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mo.) in net that lifted Suffolk to a 4-2 ECAC Northeast ice hockey victory over Becker Wednesday evening at Steriti Rink.

 

Senior Charlie McGinnis (Hanover, Mass.) had staked the host Rams (8-14-1, 5-7-1 ECAC Northeast) to a 1-0 advantage just 2:01 into the contest, but the visiting Hawks (2-17-3, 1-8-3 ECAC Northeast) evened matters just over four minutes later on freshman Chris Pantaleo's (Staten Island, N.Y.) marker and took their only lead of the evening with 8:16 remaining in the middle frame on sophomore David Kann's (Lafayette, Calif.) tally.  Freshman Simon Leahy's (Milwaukee, Wis.) power play goal with 3:40 to play in the second stanza enabled Suffolk to forge a 2-2 deadlock heading into the final 20 minutes of play and set up Mastrangelo's heroics, as an empty-netter off the stick of sophomore David Lazaro (Canton, Mass.) with 54 seconds remaining iced the hosts' triumph and accounted for the final score.

 

McGinnis and Leahy finished with a goal and an assist each in the win for the Rams, who also received a pair of assists off the stick of junior Tim Sprague (Plymouth, Mass.) as well as single helpers from junior Dan Mazzei (Tewksbury, Mass.), sophomore Mike Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.) and freshman Stanton Turner (San Francisco, Calif.).  Sophomore Frank Musick (Laurel Springs, N.J.) collected the assist on Pantaleo's goal for Becker, which also received helpers from sophomore Gerald Owen (Chesapeake, Va.) and freshman Brian Osieja (West Seneca, N.Y.) on Kann's tally.

 

Smolarek picked up his seventh win of the season between the pipes for Suffolk, as he made 12 saves in each of the first two periods before stopping all 15 shots he saw in the final frame.  Sophomore Gregg Hussey (Medford, Mass.) recorded 22 saves in the setback for Becker, as the Hawks outshot the Rams by a 41-26 margin for the contest.  The win enabled Suffolk to build a three-point lead over both Curry and Western New England for the fifth seed in the upcoming league tournament, but the Colonels and the Golden Bears do have a combined three games in hand over the Rams heading into the weekend.

 

Suffolk closes out its regular season slate on Saturday afternoon by hosting Wentworth in an ECAC Northeast outing at Steriti Rink that faces off at 4:40 p.m., while Becker heads to Milton, Mass. on Saturday afternoon to square off with Curry in an ECAC Northeast clash that also faces off at 4:40 p.m.