Men’s Hockey Drops CCC Opener to Wentworth in Shootout

CHARLESTOWN, Mass. – Suffolk men's hockey skated to a 4-4 draw with Wentworth in its Commonwealth Coast Conference debut Friday night at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink, before falling to the Leopards in a 2-1 shootout. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 4 | Wentworth 4
RECORDS: Suffolk (0-1-1, 0-0-1 CCC) | Wentworth (1-1-1, 0-0-1 CCC)  

HOW IT HAPPENED
After begin kept scoreless in its season debut Suffolk wasted little time to find the back of the net tonight. Wentworth gave the Rams a man-up opportunity just 1:47 into the action and Ryan Harrigan capitalized on the power play as he tucked in a feed from Kyle Valiquette right in front of Will Oliver at the 3:13 minute mark. Olle Akermark had a hand in the marker that gave the blue-and-gold an early one-goal lead.  

The Leopards snuck a puck past Cal Wilcox with just over two minutes remaining in the first frame. Sam Milnes blocked Akermark's attempt on WIT's end of the ice and took it to the distance for a one-on-one with Wilcox. The visitor's wrist shot went right through the five-hole to level the playing field at 1-all. 

Neither team was able to gain an edge over the first 15 minutes of the second stanza, however the last five minutes was action packed. 

Wentworth started things out with the go-ahead exactly five minutes to go until the second intermission. The Leopards took advantage of a bad clear out by the Rams. Kasey O'Brien tipped the puck to Milnes who regained possession, slipped a pass to Josh Faussett, who quickly put it away to flip the script in the visitor's favor, 2-1.  

The Leopards made it a two-goal game with 1:41 left on the clock in the second, but the Rams responded 14 seconds to keep things close. In between the hash marks Alex Kolowrat sent a simple wrist shot that Oliver couldn't touch. Billy Roche and Griffin Clark aided in the strike that trimmed the deficit down to 3-2 to set up an interesting fourth.  

The late excitement from the second period carried over to the third. Nick Lachaine tipped in Akermark's pass to level the playing field at 3-all just 1:15 out of the locker room. Devin Lowe assisted in the goal.  

Wentworth recovered the lead at the 7:40 courtesy of Faussett's second strike of the day. Suffolk stayed in it courtesy of Griffin Clark's game-tying goal that came 2:38 later. Billy Roche helped the marker that forced the extra session.  

The Leopards pounced right off the first face-off in the 3-on-3. Wilcox kept the game going thanks to a diving pad save early on in the extra session.  

After Wilcox put on the hero cape for the Rams, Oliver stood on his head for the Leopards. Samuel Rand had a good look with a breakaway, but WIT's netminder didn't blink an eye. A minute later, Lachaine had the game on his stick with a two-on-one. Once again Oliver came up with the stop to preserve the tied game. 

As time expired in overtime the stalemate remained, which forced the teams to a shootout.  

The teams exchanged goals to open the shootout. Kevin Obssuth put way Wentworth's first, while Kolowrat responded with his own for Suffolk. The next pair of student-athletes on either side were denied to keep fans on the edge of their seats. 

Joey O'Leary came through with the shootout winner in the fourth round as Oliver shut the door on Suffolks last chance taken by Clark to seal the win for Wentworth. 

NETMINDER NOTES

• Wilcox had 30 stops. 
• Lee finished with 21 saves.  

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Clark finished with one goal and one assist. 
• Akermark and Roche both passed out one assist. 
• Harrigan, Lachaine and Kolowrat each provided one goal. 
• Lowe and Valiquett tallied one helper each. 
• Wentworth outshot Suffolk 34-25. 
• The Leopards held an edge in face offs 38-36.  

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk lift the lid on its CCC campaign, the teams' third year in the league, first since 2017-18. 
• The Rams and Leopards went into overtime for the first time since Feb. 2, 2016 and seventh time overall. 
• The Rams went into overtime in its CCC opener for the first time in program history. 
• Harrigan had his first collegiate goal, the Rams' first of the season. 
• Valiquette and Akermark recorded their first collegiate points on one assist. 
• Clark scored his sixth collegiate goal, first of the season. 
• Lachaine potted his fifth collegiate goal.  

POST-GAME PIC
  

SUFFOLK'S SCHEDULE
The Rams and Wentworth with close its home-and-home conference series tomorrow, Saturday, Nov. 6 at Allied Veterans Memorial in Everett, Massachusetts. Puck drop is set for 5 p.m.