EAST BOSTON – Suffolk women's hockey saw its CCC regular-season title slip away as No. 9 Endicott managed to break open a 3-all tie with less than five minutes remaining in regulation to take down the Rams, 4-3, Friday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. Prior to Suffolk's regular-season finale, the blue-and-gold honored the playing careers of its gradating players. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 3 | No. 9 Endicott 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (19-5-0, 14-4-0 CCC) | No. 9 Endicott (16-4-1, 14-2-1 CCC) 

HOW IT HAPPENED
Endicott may have controlled the first five minutes, but Suffolk took capitalized on its chances in the first period to gain a 2-1 edge over the Gulls. 

Shana Cote started the scoring at the 9:00 minute mark as the senior fired a pass from Sofia Scilipoti into the back of the twine. Madison Ricardo assisted on the game-opening goal.  

That one-goal gap did not last long as Morgan Sisson tipped in Nicole Connor's shot from the point 3:20 later to level the playing field at one-goal apiece. Kellie Popkin dished out to Sisson to help aid in the game-tying goal.  

As the first intermission loomed, Madison Duff lofted a puck over a Gulls' skater from Suffolk's zone into the neutral zone where Cote was there to collect the pieces. The senior zoomed into Endicott territory on a 2-on-2 with Scilipoti. The line mates used a give-and-go from Cote to Scilipoti and back that flustered Michaela O'Brien. The back-and-forth set up Cote to chip the puck into the net for the second time on the night and Porrazzo Rink erupted as Suffolk restored its lead, 2-1, with 36 seconds left in the first.  

Endicott used the first penalty of the day to its advantage as Duff was whistled for slashing just over two minutes into the middle period. The Gulls worked the puck around for 20 seconds before Kaylee Liberty got the puck past Lily O'Neil to even matters for the second time on the evening. Madison Hentosh jump started the score with a shot from the point that bounced off of Kat Keith's stick right to Liberty, who was right in front of the blue-and-gold cage. 

Suffolk used its own first man-up opportunity of the outing to go back in front, 3-2. Ricardo forwarded a pass from Julia Franklin, who dropped passed to Burton at the left face-off dot. The fifth-year skater sniped a shot over O'Brien's glove shoulder to make it a 3-2 Rams score at the 9:16 mark of the second stanza. 

Special teams continued to play a factor and Endicott used another power play, its third of the day, to even matters for the third time as Jess Burwell scored with 38 seconds to go before the second intermission to send the teams back to the locker room locked at 3-all.  

The tied game rolled into the final five minutes of the third period. Endicott saw a chance and jumped on it. O'Neil was peppered with a flurry of shots and laid on the puck, or so the sophomore thought. The puck got loose, which allowed Liberty to poke it past the goal line and give the Gulls their first lead of the day, 4-3, with 4:34 left on the clock.  

Suffolk picked up the pace from there, especially when O'Neil was pulled from the net with 46 seconds to go. The extra attacker did not pay off for the blue-and-gold as it was unable to get a shot off and Endicott took the victory.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• O'Neil had 32 stops in the set back. 
• O'Brien registered 15 saves in the victory.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Cote contributed two goals. 
• Ricardo and Scilipoti each had two points as well, both on handouts. 
• Burton tallied one goal. 
• Duff and Franklin each dished out one assist. 
• Endicott outshot Suffolk, 36-18, while the Rams won the face-off battle, 33-30. 
• Suffolk went 1-for-1 on power plays, while Endicott went 2-for-4 with a man-up.  

NOTEWORTHY

• The last four games between Suffolk and Endicott have been decided by one goal. 
• Overall five of the seven games between the Rams and Gulls have been determined by one goal. 
• Ricardo and Scilipoti each matched a career-high two assists. 
• Cote stretched her point streak to seven games. In that span she has seven goals and five assists. 
• Cote has registered multi-point games in the last three outings. 
• Scilipoti pushed her point streak to six contests. In that time, she has notched three markers and five helpers. 
• Duff (2g, 7a) has etched a point over the last six games. 
• Franklin (1g, 3a) has produced one point in the last four games.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

COMING UP
Suffolk sets its sights on the CCC post-season with the Rams opponent to be determined and to be released by the league office tomorrow, Saturday, Feb. 19 following the conclusion of the regular-season.