Men's Ice Hockey Richard Tierney, Suffolk Athletic Communications

Suffolk Men’s Ice Hockey Rolls Past JWU in CNE First Round, 8-1

EAST BOSTON – Thirteen different Rams found the scoresheet as the third-seeded Suffolk men's ice hockey powered past sixth-seeded Johnson & Wales, 8-1, in the Conference of New England (CNE) First Round on Wednesday night at Louis E. Porrazzo Memorial Skating Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 8 | Johnson & Wales 1
RECORDS: Suffolk (17-8-1) | Johnson & Wales (8-15-3)  

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • Suffolk struck first at 12:59 of the opening period when Ralph Berry won a loose puck in the defensive zone and moved it up the boards to Dimitri Voyatzis. Voyatzis slipped a backhand feed to Joe O'Brien, who went inside-out on the goaltender's pad to give the Rams a 1-0 edge.
  • Just over a minute later, the Rams doubled the lead as Aidan O'Connell kept the puck alive along the left boards and centered to Nolan Leonard, who quickly backhanded a pass to Jake Grace who roofed the finish to make it 2-0.
  • JWU answered on the power play with 9:51 left in the first, as Zachary Brady converted a chance set up by Chris Alexander and Joseph Sciabarra.
  • Suffolk responded late in the frame to restore its two-goal cushion. O'Brien buried his second of the night with 34 seconds remaining, tapping in a deflection off a Berry shot to send the Rams into the first intermission ahead, 3-1.
  • The Rams extended the margin to 4-1 just 3:56 into the second period as Owen Hodgett sent the puck deep, Michael Gallagher redirected it forward, and Daniel McKiernan finished from in tight.
  • Five minutes into the third, Quinn Booth knocked home a rebound off a Nick Liotino shot to make it 5-1. Forty seconds later, O'Connell capped off a tic-tac-toe power play sequence with a goal, assisted by Leonard and Gallagher.
  • Suffolk continued to capitalize with the man advantage at 14:11 of the third when Bobby Lachance found McKiernan, who slid a pass across the crease to Voyatzis for a quick finish.
  • The Rams closed the scoring with their fourth power play goal of the night with 1:28 remaining with crisp puck movement between McKiernan, Ryan Webb, and Lachance. McKiernan eventually tapped in Webb's ricocheted shot to secure the 8-1 victory.

NETMINDER NOTES

  • Austin McNicholas stopped 24 shots in the contest.
  • Jake Inzirillo made 41 saves in net for the Wildcats. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

  • The Rams held a 49-25 advantage in shots on goal over the Wildcats.
  • McKiernan led the way with a three-point night, scoring twice and adding an assist.
  • O'Brien finished with two goals.
  • Grace, O'Connell, and Voyatzis each recorded a goal and an assist.
  • Booth found the back of the net once.
  • Gallagher, Berry, and Leonard each turned in two helper performances.
  • Webb, Hodgett, Ondos, and Liotino chipped in with one assist apiece. 

NOTEWORTHY 

  • Suffolk played in the postseason for the second straight season and 11th time overall. 
  • The Rams hosted their fourth postseason game in the game-by-game record books, which date back to 1999-2000. 
  • The blue-and-gold captured its second-ever postseason win at home to move to 2-2-0 as the home team in a league tournament.
  • In CNE postseason action at home, Suffolk is unbeaten, 2-0-0.
  • Suffolk is now 3-10-0 in postseason play, which includes a 2-3-0 mark in CNE tourney action.
  • The Rams will advance from a league's first round for the second straight season and third time overall. 
  • Suffolk skated in a 3 vs. 6 game in a conference tournament for the third time, first since 2014-15. 
  • The Rams are now 1-2-0 in 3 vs. 6 conference tournament tilts. 
  • The eight goals scored are the most by the Rams in a league tournament contest dating back to 1999-2000, while the seven-goal margin of victory is also a record. 
  • All 3 vs. 6 postseason action in Suffolk's history have come against Johnson & Wales. 
  • Suffolk defeated JWU in the postseason for the first time. 
  • The Rams are now 1-2-0 against the Wildcats in the postseason. 
  • The Rams secured their sixth consecutive victory over the Wildcats, improving to 14-23-4 in the all-time series.
  • Suffolk moved to 7-12-3 against JWU on home ice.
  • The blue-and-gold remains a perfect 5-0-0 against JWU under Shawn McEachern.
  • Suffolk poured in eight goals versus the Wildcats, the most since registering eight in an 8-6 triumph Jan. 12, 2019. 
  • The blue-and-gold has now potted 107 goals this season, the most since it scored 122 in 1989-90.
  • O'Brien has now posted a point in three straight contests, compiling three goals and three assists during that span.
  • Grace has dished earned a helper in consecutive games.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk advances to the CNE Semifinals on Saturday, Feb. 28, hosted by second seeded Endicott at 1:00 p.m.