FEATURE: Suffolk Slowly, Steadily Building its Women's Hockey Program

Courtesy John Connolly of the Boston Herald

BOSTON - Most coaches would cringe if forced to build a program from scratch. They would probably need to call medics if they had to do it without the team having its own on-campus facility. Those same bench jockeys would probably get apoplectic if faced with an additional task of transporting the team back and fourth through the Boston tunnels to reach daily practice. 

Not so with Suffolk University second-year coach Taylor Wasylk and her plucky band of Rams skaters who embrace the journey to Porrazzo Skating Rink in East Boston with an on-and-off the ice enthusiasm. You might call it team bonding, city-style. It's all part of the building process for a program that just entered the Division 3 ranks one year ago. 

"We actually had nothing before. Not even a club team. We jumped right into it. So, last year was a little crazy," said the energetic Wasylk. "I was still able to recruit the year before (2017-2018)." 

All the 27-year-old Wasylk did in her debut was to guide a neophyte collection of 17 freshmen and a couple of transfer students to a sparkling 15-9-2 overall mark and a 10-4-2 league record that earned the Rams the second seed for the New England Hockey Conference (NEHC) tournament. Suffolk had the second-best scoring offense (2.88 goals-per-game) in the league while holding foes to a paltry 2.00 GPG. Wasylk was tabbed NEHC Coach of the Year. Then-freshman Shana Cote of Broomfield, Colorado, was named NEHC Rookie of the Year. 

Wasylk, who grew up in Port Huron, Michigan, where she was a valedictorian in high school, comes by her knowledge of the game quite naturally. She played four years at Boston College, making three trips to the Frozen Four, as the Eagles won two Beanpots and Hockey East titles. The 5-foot-10 Wasylk was voted MVP of the 2014 Beanpot and later won HE Best Defensive Forward award. 

Cote, who had eight goals last season, has a team-high six in 15 games this year for the Rams (5-8-2), who started off slow but have rebounded to win their last three outings. Cote (6), sophomore Haley Poloskey (4), freshman Cassidy Gruning (4) of Tewksbury, and junior defenseman forward Meagan MacNeil (3) of Weymouth have been the key snipers. MacNeil connected with 17 seconds remaining in a 7-3 win against Salem State to jump start the win streak, with the first-ever hat trick in Rams history. 

"Shana was the centerpiece of the team last year. She played on the first line, first power play, first penalty kill. She's a hard-working kid, leads by example. She's a little reserved, quiet, but does everything right," Wasylk said. "Polosky has found her footing on the first line. Cassidy is simply the nicest kid. Young. Still developing as a player. And, 'Mac' , as we call MacNeil, was moved up to forward and she had the first hat trick in program history." 

A highlight for Suffolk in the second half will be a Jan. 25 (5:30 p.m.) tilt against UMass Boston, which will help raise funds for the Massachusetts Special Olympics.