Statistics

EAST BOSTON, Mass. -- The University of New England men's ice hockey team scored five of the last six goals as the No.7 Nor'easters rebounded to come away with a 7-4 Conference of New England (CNE) win versus Suffolk University at Porrazzo Rink on Saturday (Jan. 10).

A night after dropping a 2-0 affair to the Rams, the Nor'easters (10-4-0, 7-2-0) struck early and often on the way to notching their sixth road triumph in as many tries. UNE led 1-0 and 2-1 before falling behind late in the 1st period, but tied things prior to intermission (3-3) and pounced twice in the opening 69 seconds of the 2nd to take the lead for good (5-3).

Drew Olivieri and Mike Tersoni accounted for the offense in the 3rd to pad the one-goal cushion. They were the second tallies of the night for both; Olivieri finished with a team-best three points, while it was the second two-goal performance of Tersoni's career.

Olivieri's second marker was the only power-play score on the evening, as the Nor'easters went 1-for-4 with the extra skater. Meanwhile, the penalty kill unit got a serious workout but did manage to clear all six disadvantaged situations off the board. UNE's defensive special teams is now 47-for-47 on the year and substantially ahead of the second-most efficient group in the country (Hamilton College, 31-for-33, 93.9%).

Nathan Chickering, Tersoni, and Fernand-Olivier Perron were responsible for the 1st-period scoring, and Olivieri and David Wilcox got on the board just 27 seconds apart to build the lead in the middle frame.

Joining Tersoni with two points was Wilcox, Dominic Murphy (2 assists), and Ike Keller (2 assists). Murphy began the day ranked fourth in Division III for assists per game (1.00).

Harrison Chesney logged 40 minutes of relief work between the pipes for the Nor'easters, allowing just a shorthanded goal to Suffolk's Alex Ondos in the 2nd. Chesney made 10 stops to register his ninth win. Sophomore Stefan Carney, who went 9-3-1 for UNE last year, got the call for his first action of the season and had eight saves during the initial period.

The Rams (6-7-1, 6-3-1) received goals from Daniel McKiernan, Scott McManus, and Marko Giourof to keep the match level in the 1st. Following up Friday's shutout, rookie Austin McNicholas yielded all seven goals and turned away 18 shots.

Olivieri, Ryan Hadland, and Juraj Elias combined to go 29-7 at faceoff dots for the Nor'easters, who now have six days to prepare for two important games against nationally-ranked Endicott College. The first puck drops down in Beverly on Friday (6 p.m.).