BOSTON, Mass. - Junior Tim Sprague (Plymouth, Mass.) scored the game winner three minutes into the overtime period to lift the Suffolk University Hockey team to a 3-2 victory over Curry College on Saturday afternoon in ECAC Northeast Hockey action.
Suffolk opened the scoring seven minutes into the contest when sophomore Carmen Mastrangelo (Wellington, Fla.) netted the game's first goal as he converted feeds from sophomores Tyler Heineman (Randolph, N.J) and Mike Pantano (Bridgewater, Mass.).
Junior Jordan Reed (Ajax, Ont.) would get the Colonels on the board 9:34 into the period scoring his first of two goals on the evening on a Curry power-play. Reed was setup by freshmen linemates Dan McGinnins (Hanover, Mass.) and James Murphy (Malden, Mass.).
Both teams would trade goals in the second period as Suffolk took a brief 2-1 edge when junior Dan Mazzei (Tewksbury, Mass.) knocked home his sixth goal of the season during four on four action.
Reed would once again answer for Curry as he netted his fifth tally on the year converting a feed from McGinnis with 3:10 remaining in the second.
Both teams would skate through a scoreless third period with each registering 13 shots on goal in the frame. After squandering a five minute power-play that originally started in the closing minutes of regulation, Suffolk was able to score the game winner twenty five seconds after the penalty expired. Sophomore Connor McCarthy (Hanover, Mass.) forced a turnover in the neutral zone as he led freshman Simon Leahy (Milwaukee, Wis.) up the left boards. Leahy would find Sprague streaking in alone as he put in a wrist shot from five feet in front of the net over junior Derek Mohney's (Amherst, N.Y.) right shoulder.
Sprague's overtime goal was his eighth of the season and second game winner for the Rams.
Sophomore Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mich.) made 38 saves in goal for the Rams who improve to a 7-13-1 overall mark on the season with Saturday's victory and 4-6-1 in conference play.
Mohney made 24 saves in goal for the Colonels in a relef effort for freshman Brett Sinclair (St. Catharines, Ont.) who stopped five of six shots in the first period.
The loss drops Curry to an 8-12-2 overall record on the season and 4-7 mark in conference action.
Both McGinnis (Curry) and McCarthy (Suffolk) finished the evening with a pair of assists for their respective teams.
Both teams will head into the final week of the season with a trio of ECAC Northeast Hockey matchups. Curry is idle until next Thursday when they host Wentworth beginning at 6:40pm. Suffolk will travel to Western New England University for a 2:07pm faceoff in a game that was rescheduled from Thursday. (Recap courtesy of Suffolk Sports Information)
