Men’s Ice Hockey Ties Suffolk, Drops Shootout Decision

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 9, 2022) – The Western New England men's ice hockey team battled with the visiting Suffolk University Rams on Friday night in the team's final regular season game of the 2022 schedule. WNE would get on the board first but would surrender a goal in the final two minutes of the game to force OT before falling in a shootout. 

Records:

• Western New England: 5-6-1 (3-5-1 CCC)
• Suffolk University: 1-7-2 (1-7-1 CCC)

How it Happened:
The Golden Bears, who were looking for their fifth straight win and a win to close out their first half of the regular season, got off to good start, getting good looks in the offensive end. Western New England would generate the majority of the chances in the opening 20 minutes with Suffolk falling behind on the defensive end. Western New England would be awarded with the games first powerplay and would score the opening goal of the game when Demitrios Stefanou fed Billy Hefferle down the board, who then sent a saucer pass to Jason Diamond who was on the back post and would tuck the puck past Suffolk GK Cal Wilcox to give WNE a 1-0 lead. That would be all the scoring in the first period as Western New England would outshoot Suffolk 14-9 in the opening frame. 

No scoring would be had in the second period, though the Rams would win the second period of play when it comes to quality chances in front of the net. Suffolk came away with 14 shots in the second period, though Colten Lancaster, who has been in between the pipes for the Golden Bears for their last four wins, came up big in the period, collecting all 14 saves. Western New England could only manage eight shots on goal, though their quality chances would decline from the first to second periods. 

In the third, Western New England would see their opponent get the better of the chances for the second straight period. WNE would have two chances on the powerplay in the final 20 minutes of play but would come up empty. After continuing their solid play on the offensive end, Suffolk would find the back of the net with 1:52 to play in the third period when Griffin Clark cashed in on a cross-crease pass from Cole Scott to even the score late. Suffolk and WNE would settle for overtime to decide a winner. 
In the OT frame Billy Hefferle and Shane Miller would collect shots on goal though Cal Wilcox would take control of the opportunities by the Golden Bears. Suffolk took three shots on goal during the frame, all of which were denied by Lancaster which forced a shootout to decide the winner.  The Rams would grab the only goal in the shootout by Cole Scott as Suffolk would come away with the 1-0 win the in SO to take the extra point in the standings. WNE would see their four-game win streak snap with the tie. 

In Between the Pipes:

• Jason Diamond scored WNE's only goal of the night as he records his second goal of the season with the Golden Bears. 
• Colten Lancaster made 35 saves for WNE in the contest. 
• Cal Wilcox made 33 saves for Suffolk. 
• WNE would score the only PP goal of the game, going one for four on the man advantage. Suffolk would go 0 for 3. 

Up Next on the Schedule:

• Western New England returns to the ice on January 7, 2023 to face Anna Maria College at 5:40 pm. 
• Suffolk hosts Franklin Pierce University on the same date.