Box Score NEW BEDFORD, Mass. – Suffolk scored seven goals in the last two periods to break a 2-2 tie following the first to register their highest goal total since 2002, defeating host UMass Dartmouth 9-5 at Hetland Arena on Thursday evening.
The Rams (10-4-2) went 3-5 on the power play for the game, with two of those scores coming within only a two-minute span in the second period. Freshman goalkeeper Michael Levine (Clarendon Hill, Ill.) picked up his first career win in the game after taking the ice in the second, making 18 saves including 12 in the third to backstop Suffolk's offensive onslaught.
All three goalkeepers saw playing time for the Corsairs, with sophomore Drew Michals (Newton, Mass.) earning the decision as he has in every game for UMass Dartmouth (5-7-3) this season. Michals turned aside 15 shots on the night spanning the second period and 13 minutes of the third.
Sophomore Tommy Bay (Duluth, Ga.) made his first career start in net for the Corsairs, making eight saves, while classmate Jacob Ferreira (Westport, Mass.) stopped five shots in his first career appearance for UMass Dartmouth.
The contest began as an even affair, with the Corsairs starting what would be an offensive flurry only two minutes in. Senior Evangelos Stefanou (Tabernacle, N.J.) posted his first goal of the season off the assists from sophomore Joe Echelmeier (Doylestown, Pa.) and senior Mike Restuccia (Malden, Mass.), tipping the puck past Kevin Venturoso (Franklin, Mass.) in front of the net.
Suffolk responded four minutes later, registering the first power play score of the night as junior Danyil Medvedev (Boston, Mass.) found senior Justin Selep (Pittsburgh, Pa.) for his 12th goal of the season.
The Corsairs again picked up the lead at 13:01, as Garrett Allen (Dartmouth, Mass.) registered another tip-in goal off the passes from junior Matt Baldino (Woburn, Mass.) and freshman Connor Court (Swansea, Ill.). Stanton Turner (San Francisco, Calif.) then evened the score at 2-all to close the first, putting in his first of two goals on the night at 14:25.
Following the break, sophomore Casey Shea (Woburn, Mass.) continued the back-and-forth, putting home his team-leading ninth goal of the season, cutting across the net and beating Venturoso between the legs. Shea has now registered a point in the past four games for the Corsairs, with a goal in three of those four.
Suffolk's Luke Miller (Lancaster, Calif.) did away with the lead immediately, scoring only eight seconds later, and Connor Lawrence (White Plains, N.Y.) put the Rams ahead at 3:17. Junior Mike Kelly (Stoneham, Mass.) again evened the margin on a short-handed goal 12 seconds after Lawrence's score, but Suffolk was too much to end the period, with Miller and Turner beating Michals over the next 12 minutes.
Restuccia netted his first goal of the season as UMass Dartmouth's final goal of the night, converting on the pass from Allen four minutes into the third period. Suffolk would then rattle off the next three goals, with Selep getting on the board again and Anthony Galloway (Washington, Mich.) and Connor Henry (Trumbull, Conn.) each earning their first tallies of the season.
For the contest, both squads were nearly even on total shots, with Suffolk posting 37 to UMass Dartmouth's 36. The Corsairs went 0-1 on the man advantage.
The Corsairs will take to the road for the first time in 2016, traveling to meet MASCAC foe Salem State on Saturday at 2 p.m. Suffolk will also return to conference play, facing Salve Regina Saturday evening.
