Stefanou Scores Two in Men’s Ice Hockey’s 4-2 Loss to Suffolk

BOSTON, Mass. (February 1, 2022) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team finished their three games in three nights on Tuesday afternoon, being defeated by the hosting Suffolk University Rams by a final score of 4-2. Demitrios Stefanou came through with both goals for the Golden Bears. 

Records:

• Western New England: 4-12-2 (2-11-1 CCC)
• Suffolk University: 4-8-3 (4-6-3 CCC)

How it Happened:
Western New England surrendered the first goal in the first four minutes of the game when Shawn Montgomery was able to beat Colten Lancaster, the starting goaltender for Western New England on the afternoon, to give Suffolk the early 1-0 lead. Montgomery would be assisted by Ryan Harrigan to grab the early tally. Western New England was able to get good chances in on Suffolk's goaltender Cal Wilcox, shooting nine times on goal in the period, though WNE would be unsuccessful at finding twine in the opening 20 minutes. Kyle Knight took two shots, in the period while Peter White, Lliam Christiano, Jordie Morgan, Marko Bohatiuk, Shane Miller, Billy Hefferle, and Connor Geshan each came away with one shot on goal in the period. Lancaster came away with 12 saves in the first period. Western New England would take the 9-6 advantage in the faceoff circle through the opening period. 

The Golden Bears would open the second period by getting chances in front of Wilcox, which would end up in the first goal of the game for WNE. The Golden Bears would make a successful breakout of their defensive zone as Conor Leach would feed Jacob Ondrejko in the offensive zone. Ondrejko would then find Demitrios Stefanou who was able to beat Cal Wilcox to give Western New England their first goal of the afternoon, and first goal since the 14:52 mark of the second period on Sunday's 5-4 loss to Nichols College. WNE breaks a streak of 110 minutes and nine seconds without a goal over the stretch of their last three games. Stefanou collected his second of the season, first since January 7 vs. Rivier University. Ondrejko tallies his second assist of the season while Leach picks up his fourth helper this season. Six minutes after the Western New England tally, Suffolk would get back on the board to re-take their one goal lead when John Garrity was able to stuff home a rebound chance after in initial save by Lancaster. After a point shot from Olle Akermark that was saved by the Golden Bears goaltender, John Garrity was right on the doorstep to tap home a loose puck into the back of the net to give Suffolk the 2-1 lead. Garrity picks up his first of the season for the Rams while Akermark picks up his 8^th assist on the season. Alex Kolowrat picked up his fifth assist on the season on the goal, as well. Suffolk would take the one goal lead heading into the third period after neither team was able to cash in on a goal in the final ten minutes of the second period. 

Suffolk would bring the offense in the early goings of the third period as they were able to expand on their one goal lead for the first time in the game. At the 5:32 mark in the third period, Max Rand would score his third goal of the season on assists from Kyle Valiquette and Sergi Anisimov to put Suffolk ahead 3-1. Five minutes later, the Rams would score their fourth goal of the game and Alex Kolowrat would tally his second point of the game on his second goal of the season on an assist from Nick Lachaine to put Suffolk ahead 4-1. With under five minutes to play in the third, Stefanou would pick up his second goal of the contest on assists the same as his first goal as Ondrejko and Leach would pick up their second helpers of the afternoon. WNE would be unsuccessful late in the contest with the extra attacker, falling by a final score of 4-2 to the Suffolk Rams. 

Inside the Crease:

• Suffolk would outshoot the Golden Bears 41-30 in the contest, taking a big advantage (18-7) in the second period. WNE would outshoot Suffolk 14-10 in the third period, though came up with just a singular goal in the period. 
• Colten Lancaster made 37 stops on the afternoon while surrendering four goals in the 4-2 loss. Lancaster has dropped his last six decisions after starting the season 3-2 in between the pipes. 
• Demitrios Stefanou scored two goals for WNE, marking his second and third on the season, while also going 8-10 in the faceoff circle. Teammates Jacob Ondrejko and Conor Leach assisted on both Stefanou tallies. 
• WNE won 40-66 faceoffs on the afternoon as Peter White, Lliam Christiano, and Demitrios Stefanou all won eight faceoffs for the Golden Bears. 
• Suffolk was led by Alex Kolowrat, who scored once and picked up an assist in the win. Kolowrat was the only Ram to pick up a multi-point afternoon. 
• Cal Wilcox made 28 saves on Western New England's 30 shots on goal, improving his record to 5-6-3 on the season. 
• Neither team scored on the powerplay in the contest, with Western New England marking an 0-4 outing, while Suffolk failed on two chances.

Up Next on the Schedule:

• The Golden Bears finish their three-game road trip with a trip to Wentworth Institute of Technology on Friday, February 4 at 7:00 pm. 
• Suffolk travels to Curry College on the same date.