EAST BOSTON – Suffolk men's hockey's scoring started late in the third period to mount a comeback, but ultimately No. 9 the University of New England held off the Rams, 4-2, Friday night in Commonwealth Coast Conference play at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | No. 9 University of New England 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (2-12-2, 1-7-1 CCC) | No. 9 University of New England (11-2-2, 6-1-2 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Three different Nor'Easters poured in one goal in the middle period to push the visitors to a comfortable 3-0 cushion at the second intermission. Brock Paul had a hand in two strikes, scoring the first himself and assisting on the second, which was scored by Dylan Schuett. Anthony Sciucco found the back of the net for UNE in the second period offensive output as well.  

Suffolk made things interesting in the third when three Nor'Easters were in the pen. First, just as the 5-on-3 was about to expire, Gavin Havens chipped in Ralph Berry's rebound to put the Rams on the board at the 12:45 mark of the period. Devin Lowe assisted on the blue-and-gold's first goal of the game.  

A give-and-go between Jake Grace and Josh Milso resulted in Suffolk's second goal of the night 1:16 later. Tyler Borys got the puck off the face off won by Carter Schram at the right dot just outside UNE's zone and found Grace. Grace took it behind the visitor's net, dished ahead to Milso at the blue line and received the return pass to for a one-timer that cut the gap to one, 3-2, with 5:59 remaining in regulation.  

UNE controlled the pace of play, which kept CJ Hapward in between the posts for the Rams until the final 23 seconds. Once the extra skater hit the ice for the blue-and-gold, the Nor'Easters were the ones who capitalized. Sciucco put away an empty netter with 13 seconds left in regulation for the 4-2 final. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Hapward logged 35 saves in the setback. 
• Joe Stanizzi had 21 stops to his credit in the victory.  

STATISTICALKY SPEAKING

• Havens and Grace were responsible for the Rams goals with one each. 
• Berry, Lowe, Borys and Milso each dished out one assist. 
• UNE outshot Suffolk, 39-23. 
• The Rams won the face off battle, 33-28. 
• Suffolk went 2-for-4 on the power play, while UNE went 1-for-6.  

NOTEWORTHY

• There has never been a shutout between Suffolk and UNE. 
• The two power play goals scored by the Rams are the most since scoring three in a 5-4 loss at Salve Regina Feb. 10, 2023.
• Havens had his first goal of the season. 
• Grace scored his third goal of the year.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk is in store for a home-and-home series with Wentworth next weekend. The Rams host the Leopards Friday, Jan. 19 at 6 p.m. at Porrazzo Rink before the blue-and-gold visits WIT Saturday, Jan. 20 for a 3 p.m. Commonwealth Coast Conference clash.