EAST BOSTON – Behind the efforts of seven separate point scorers and two goaltenders, Suffolk women's hockey started the 2021-22 campaign with a win on home ice, as the blue-and-gold took down Plymouth State, 5-2, at Louis E. Porrazzo Rink in East Boston on Friday night. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Plymouth State 2
RECORDS: Suffolk (1-0-0) | Plymouth State (0-1-0)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk broke the deadlock first after intense back-and-forth action as Shana Cote buried a puck into the wide-open cage off a rebound created by Leslie Steiner to give the Rams a 1-0 lead just 8:36 into the contest. 

Just minutes later, Plymouth State's Chantelle Ross skated in on a shorthanded breakaway attempt with only sophomore goalie Lily O'Neil to beat, but was denied on her deke attempt as the goaltender's extended right pad kept the puck out of the cage to keep the one-goal lead for the hosts. 

After a successful Suffolk penalty kill, Sofia Scilipoti stepped out of the penalty box and picked off a haywire pass, which led to a transition opportunity. The junior blew a wrist shot past both a defender and Olivia Petito from the top of the left circle. Her first collegiate goal extended the Rams advantage to 2-0 with 5:35 to play in the opening period.

The Panthers cut the distance in half with just 22 seconds left in the frame as Ross tipped a Georgia McLellan shot from the point to make it a 2-1 game going into the first break.

Early in the second period Suffolk restored its two-goal gap. On a penalty kill Cote beat a pair of Panther defenders in the skate race to a cleared puck and followed her initial shot attempt up by tipping the puck past Petito for her second goal of the contest two minutes into the middle period.  

Plymouth State once again got within one goal not long after as Ross struck her second strike of the night 10 minutes after Cote's, but a Maddy Burton marker from Cote and Jesse Kennedy with 33 seconds left before the second intermission gave the Rams some breathing room. 

A game-high 13 shots were put on goal in the third period, including a Sydney Tietz snipe, which proved to be the final goal of the night, helping Suffolk to a 5-2 victory in the opener. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• O'Neil made two stops on three shots in 19:38 of action for the Rams, earning her first win of the season.
• Julia McLellan tacked on ten saves on 11 shots, good for a .909 over the final 40:22 of the game to seal the Suffolk victory.
• Petito fell to 0-1-0 on the year for the Panthers, after allowing five goals on 36 shots.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cote collected three points on a game-high two goals and one assist. Both of the senior's strikes were on special teams as one goal was put away on the power play and the other with a skater down.
• Cote's four-point outing ties a career-best, accomplished in a 4-3 win over Becker on Nov. 9, 2018.
• Burton, Scilipoti and Tietz etched their names on the scoresheet with one goal apiece.
• Kennedy, Moy and Steiner dished out one helper each.
• Suffolk outshot the Panthers in every period, accumulating a 36-14 game advantage.
• Plymouth State held the edge in shots blocked at 19-11.
• The Rams converted on 50 percent of their four power plays, while managing to kill 85.7 percent (1-7) of Plymouth State's man-advantages.
• The face-off circle was dominated by the home squad, who won 63.2 percent (43-25) of the game's 68 faceoffs. 
• Sophomore Vanessa Stuart went nine-for-10 from the dot.

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk opened its season on its home ice for the second straight season. 
• The Rams are 2-0-0 when playing their first contest of the year at home. 
• Suffolk won its season opener for the second time in program and second time in as many years. 
• The Rams are now 2-2-0 in season debuts. 
• Suffolk tangled with Plymouth State in game one for the first time. 
• The blue-and-gold bested the Panthers for the third straight meeting to move to 4-1-0 all-time against PSU. 
• Suffolk remains unbeaten when hosting PSU. 
• The Rams move to 3-0-0 in Eastie against the Panthers. 
• Suffolk matched a season-opening high of five goals. 
• The Rams lit the lamp five times in the season debut for the second time in as many seasons. 
• Suffolk notched a short-handed and power play goal for the first time since scoring three special team goals, two with a man-up, one with a man-down, in a 6-4 setback at Endicott March 20, 2021. 
• Cote's two goals match an individual season-opening high set by Haley Poloskey in the program's debut at Nichols a 5-2 decision Oct. 26, 2018. 
• Cote's three points mark a new student-athlete's best in the first game of the year. 
• Cote is the first-ever player to net a power play goal in the first outing of a season.
• Cote is the first skater to put away a short-hander marker in game one. 
• Cote logged her third short-handed goal and 10 power play markers in a Suffolk jersey. 
• Scilipoti scored her first collegiate goal. 
• Steiner recorded her first collegiate point with an assist. 
• Julia Franklin, Scilipoti, Steiner and Vanessa Stuart made their collegiate debuts.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
The Rams will have their first road test of the season tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 30 at UMass Boston. The puck is set to drop at Barry T. Edward Rink at 1 p.m.