EAST BOSTON – The top seeded Suffolk women's hockey team secured its spot in the 2023 Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship as the Rams took control early and never let it go, shutting out fourth seed University of New England, 6-0, in the semifinals Saturday at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink.
Ten different Suffolk skaters provided at least one point to the decisive decision, while Lily O'Neil turned aside all 18 shots she faced in the shutout.
THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 6 | University of New England 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (17-7-2) | University of New England (9-15-3)
HOW IT HAPPENED
The duo of Sammy Lassman and Jenna Caballero teamed up to give Suffolk a 2-0 lead after an opening period in which the Rams outshot the Nor'Easters, 21-1.
Lassman lit the lamp first when she picked up the pieces from a Caballero rebound and tucked it past Delanie Corcoran 6:07 into the action.
The linemates combined forces 12 minutes later to extend the edge to a pair in the blue-and-gold's favor. This time, Lassman found Caballero waiting wide open in front of Corcoran. The Rams rookie one-time flew past UNE's netminder to make it a 2-0 game with 1:37 remaining before the first intermission.
Liliana Moose assisted on the game-opening goal, while Taylor Nowak aided on Suffolk's second strike of the day.
Suffolk's offensive output doubled in the second period to stretch the blue-and-gold's cushion to six as the teams headed to the locker room for the second time.
Cassidy Gruning set-up Elise Wainwright at 7:32 mark with help from Sam Molind to start the middle period scoring. From there, Nowak found the back of the net before Waingwright and Lassman poured in their second strikes of the day for the lopsided 6-0 Suffolk score, which remained the same the rest of the way.
NETMINDER NOTES
- O'Neil registered an 18-save performance to pick up the cleansheet.
- Corcoran had 51 stops in the setback.
- Kaleigh Laurendeau saw time in net and made six stops.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- Lassman led Suffolk's scoring unit with four points behind two goals and two assists.
- Caballero registered three points on one goal and two helpers.
- Wainwright logged two goals.
- Nowak's two-point stat line was divided by one goal and one assist.
- Duff set-up two strikes.
- Gruning, Livia Brehm, Molind, and Shana Cote each had one assist to their credit.
- Suffolk outshot UNE, 63-18.
- The Rams won the face off battle, 41-28.
- Suffolk went 1-for-3 on the power play and successfully skated off its two penalties.
NOTEWORTHY
- Suffolk played in the CCC Semifinals for the first time in program history.
- Suffolk competed in the playoffs as the first seed for the first time in program history.
- The Rams are in the midst of their fourth playoff push in program history.
- The blue-and-gold competed in the conference semifinals for the first time since 2020.
- The Rams remain unbeaten in the league semifinals, 2-0-0.
- Suffolk moved to 3-3-0 in the postseason overall.
- The Rams won their first CCC playoff contest.
- The Rams won their first home playoff game in program history.
- Suffolk moved to 1-2-0 at home in the conference playoffs.
- Suffolk picked up its first postseason win since defeating Southern Maine in the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) semifinals, 2-1, Feb. 29, 2020.
- Suffolk is unbeaten (2-0-0) when skating in a league semifinal.
- The Rams advance to the CCC Championship for the first time in program history.
- Suffolk is set to compete in the conference championship for the second time in program history, first since the 2020 campaign.
- Women's hockey becomes the second team in Suffolk history to compete in a CCC Championship, first since the men's soccer squad compete for the crown in 2022.
- Suffolk has scored at least two goals against UNE in every game in the all-time series.
- The six goals scored are the most by the Rams in a playoff game and in a single-game versus UNE in the all-time series.
- The Rams moved to 6-1-2 all-time against UNE.
- Suffolk took down the Nor'Easters for the first time since Dec. 2, 2022, a 2-0 shutout.
- The Rams shutout UNE for the second time in the all-time series.
- There have only been two cleansheets twice in the Suffolk, UNE series. The Rams own both shutout victories.
- Suffolk logged its fourth shutout of the season.
- O'Neil produced her fourth career shutout, third of the year and first in postseason play.
- The six-goal margin of victory is the largest for Suffolk against UNE.
- Caballero (1g, 2a), Lassman (2g, 2a) and Nowak (1g, 1a) all both set a new personal-best in points.
- Lassman and Wainwright each potted a career-high two goals.
- Wainwright matched a career-high two points.
- Caballero has notched a point in back-to-back games (2g, 1a).
- Suffolk rewrote its playoff record book, resetting every team and offensive category including goals (6), assists (12) and points (18).
- Individually, Lassman and Wainwright are the first Rams to find the back of the net twice in the playoff game in program history.
- Lassman's four points are the most by a Ram in a postseason outing, surpassing the previous mark of two, set by Payton Dockus with a one-goal, one assist effort in last year's CCC Quarterfinal game versus Curry Feb. 23, 2022.
POST-GAME PIC
WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk will host the CCC Championship next Saturday, March 4 at Porrazzo Rink at 4:50 p.m.
