BEVERLY, Mass. – Suffolk women's hockey sliced the deficit down to one early in the third period, but was unable to comeback against the 10th-ranked Endicott Gulls Monday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.  

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 2 | No. 10 Endicott 3
RECORDS: Suffolk (14-3-0, 9-2-0 CCC) | No. 10 Endicott (12-4-1, 10-2-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
Suffolk dictated the opening five minutes of the action and held Endicott without a shot on target in that action. The Gulls took advantage of their first shot on net on the day as Sami Barletta tucked the puck past Lily O'Neil at the 5:14 minute mark to put the blue-and-gold in a one-goal hole early.  

Three minutes later, Endicott saw a chance to double the distance as Jacy Kuhlman went on a one-on-one with O'Neil. The sophomore, who was named the CCC's Goaltender and Rookie of the Week earlier today, made a huge pad save to keep the one-goal game going.  

Just 1:19 into the second stanza, the Gulls did stretch the margin to a pair of pucks. Julia Volpe managed to restore the one-goal margin at the halfway point. The senior used help from Emily Bozzi and Julia Franklin to put the Rams on the board at the 10:49 mark of the middle period. 

That gap did not last long as Samantha Fantasia restored a two-strike advantage in the Gulls for the host less than five minutes later. Endicott took that 3-1 lead into the second intermission.

If Suffolk wanted to comeback it had little time to waste in the third and thankfully Natasha Savage did not take her time. The senior struck 2:45 into the final frame with help from Jesse Kennedy to make things interesting.  

The Rams had to hustle to get another goal back. Down the stretch, the blue-and-gold sweaters tested Endicott netminder Bailey Thieben, who made half of her 24 saves in the final nine minutes of regulation, to perserve the victory for the Gulls. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• O'Neil registered 33 saves in the setback. 
• Thieben finished with 24 saves.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Savage and Volpe both found the back of the net for Suffolk. 
• Bozzi, Franklin, and Kennedy each dished out one helper. 
• Endicott outshot Suffolk, 36-26, and held a narrow edge in face-offs, 22-21. 
• The Rams killed off three of their penalties.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Four of the six outings between Suffolk and Endicott have been determined by a one-goal margin. 
• Franklin (1g, 2a) stretched her point streak to three straight games. 
• Savage has struck a goal in the last two games.  

POST-GAME PIC
 

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk turns its attention to weekend play when it will entertain Curry Friday, Feb. 4 at 6 p.m., before heading to Nichols Saturday, Feb. 5 for a 4:40 p.m. outing.