EAST BOSTON – Behind a hat trick from Shana Cote and a stand-up effort by Julia McLellan in net, Suffolk women's hockey secured the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) home-and-home series sweep against Western New England with a 5-0 win over the Golden Bears Saturday afternoon at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Western New England 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (11-2-0, 6-1-0 CCC) | Western New England (5-9-2, 3-6-0 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Following a scoreless first, Cote potted a pair of pucks in the second to send Suffolk into the second intermission ahead, 2-0. Cote's first goal of the night came 1:45 out of the locker room on the power play with help from Jesse Kennedy and Sam Molind. The senior's second goal of the night was put away with 2:04 left the middle period. Sofia Scilipoti and Vanessa Stuart aided in that score.  

The Rams pushed the pedal to the medal in the third period to lock up the victory. Kennedy got in on the scoring 2:07 into the final period and 7:35 Leslie Steiner found the back of the net for the first time in her collegiate career on the man-up opportunity to double the distance.   

With less than five minutes to play, Cote netted her third of the day thanks to a set-up from Steiner to make it a 5-0 Suffolk game. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• McLellan notched 24 saves in the shutout. 
• Sierra Dennis registered 44 stops in the setback.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cote led Suffolk's nine skaters with a point with a three-goal effort. 
• Kennedy and Steiner finished with identical one-goal, one-assist stat lines. 
• Scilipoti handed out two assists. 
• Maddy Burton, Madison Duff, Molind and Stuart all dished out one helper. 
• Suffolk outshot WNE, 49-24. 
• The Rams won the face-off battle, 28-21. 
• Suffolk went 2-for-2 on the power play.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The Rams hosted the Golden Bears for the first time in program history. 
• Suffolk moved to 2-1-0 all-time against Western New England. 
• The Rams shutout the Golden Bears for the second straight meeting. 
• Both of Suffolk's victories over WNE have come in shutout fashion. 
• The Rams have blanked opponents in back-to-back meetings for the first time since Nov. 2-3, 2018 when the shutout Anna Maria, 4-0, and Johnson & Wales, 3-0. 
• The five goals scored against Western New England are the most by Suffolk in the all-time series against Western New England.
• McLellan recorded her second collegiate shutout, first since keeping Johnson & Wales off the scoreboard in the 2020 New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) Quarterfinals Feb. 22, 2020. 
• Cote scored her first collegiate hat trick. She is the second player to net a hat trick this year, first since Burton did so in a 10-3 win over Curry Nov. 13, 2021.
• Steiner produced a personal-best two-point effort. 
• Scilipoti matched her career-high in assists with two. 
• Wainwright had her first point of the season with one assist. 
• Burton (1g, 1a) Cote, (3g, 1a), Kennedy (1g, 2a), Molind (2a), Scilipoti (1g, 2a), Steiner (1g, 2a) all notched points in both battles against the Golden Bears. 

POST-GAME PIC
  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk turns its attention to Nichols with the Rams and Bison in store for a home-and-home Jan. 21-22. Suffolk hosts game one Friday, Jan. 21 at 6:00 p.m. in Eastie before a rematch Saturday, Jan. 22 at 4:40 p.m. in Harrisville, Rhode Island.