O’Connell Powers Men’s Ice Hockey Past Wentworth, 5-0

EVERETT, Mass. – Aidan O'Connell poured in four goals to lead Suffolk men's ice hockey to a 5-0 shutout of Conference of New England (CNE) foe Wentworth Friday night at Allied Veterans Rink. 

THE BASICS
SCORE: Suffolk 5 | Wentworth 0
RECORDS: Suffolk (7-7-1, 7-3-1 CNE) | Wentworth (4-10-1, 3-8-0 CNE)

 HOW IT HAPPENED

• Suffolk scored halfway through the first frame as O'Connell tipped in Michael Gallagher's slap shot from the point. Marko Giourof had a hand in the game-opening goal that came on the power play. 
• The Rams doubled the distance on the first shot of the second stanza that came 4:57 out of the locker room. Joe O'Brien was responsible for the strike that was set-up by Ralph Berry. 
• O'Connell put his second of the night away after Nolan Leonard caused a Leopards' turnover. Giourof collected an assist on the marker at the 14:56 mark that padded the blue-and-gold's advantage to 3-0. 
• O'Connell completed the hat trick with a short-handed empty netter with 3:34 left on the clock. 
• The sophomore from Wilmington, Massachusetts was not done as he converted a penalty shot at the 18:03 mark for the 5-0 final.  

NETMINDER NOTES

• Austin McNicholas earned the shutout behind a 23-save effort. 
• Jack McGovern had 24 stops in the setback. 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• O'Connell registered four goals. 
• O'Brien logged one strike. 
• Giourof and Leonard both recorded two assists. 
• Berry, Josh Milso and Dimitriy Voyatzis notched one helper apiece.
• Suffolk outshot Wentworth, 29-23. 
• The Rams went 1-for-3 on the power play and successfully skated off three penalties.
• The blue-and-gold had an upperhand in face-offs, 35-31. 

NOTEWORTHY

• Suffolk defeated Wentworth for the third straight meeting to move to 23-25-3 all-time in a series that dates back to 1992. 
• The blue-and-gold has taken Wentworth down by identical 5-0 margins in the last two meetings.
• The Rams have come out victorious in nine of the last 11 meetings (9-1-1) with Wentworth. 
• On the road, Suffolk sports an 11-13-0 ledger versus WIT. 
• The Rams moved to 7-2-0 against Wentworth under head coach Shawn McEachern. 
• Tonight's decision was the ninth shutout in the series, second straight and third in the last four. 
• Suffolk now has the upperhand in clean sheets when a team is kept off the scoreboard in the series, 5-4-0.
• The outcome was the fifth shutout in the series when the contest is played at Wentworth. Suffolk is 3-2-0 in such instances.
• O'Connell is the second Ram to produce a hat trick this season, first since Daniel McKiernan had one in the 5-0 triumph over Wentworth, Nov. 8, 2025. 
• The four goals marks a career-high for O'Connell in both goals and points. 
• Leonard (3a) O'Connell (4g, 1a) and Giourof (1g, 2a) have logged at least one point in back-to-back games.
• O'Brien produced his second goal of the year.  

WHAT'S NEXT?
Suffolk wraps up the home-and-home series with Wentworth tomorrow, Saturday, Jan. 17 at 6:00 p.m. in Eastie.