HARRISVILLE, R.I. – The Nichols men's hockey team made it two in a row in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play, taking home a 2-1 victory over Suffolk on Saturday evening at Levy Rink. With the win, Nichols jumps to 8-13-0 (4-13-0 CCC) while Suffolk falls to 6-13-2 (4-12-1 CCC).
 
Despite five combined powerplay opportunities for both teams, the Bison and Rams skated to a scoreless first period. Junior goalie Mathias Backstrom recorded 23 saves in the opening frame to keep Suffolk out of the back of Nichols' net.
 
With an offensive zone faceoff to the left of Backstrom with 11:14 to play in the second, Suffolk's Griffin Clark secured a faceoff win and slid the puck cross-crease to Peter Nugent who tucked it into the cage for a shorthanded goal, putting the Rams up 1-0.
 
Under nine minutes later, Quinn McCarthy entered the zone with a burst of speed on a delayed penalty and executed a perfect give-and-go with Owen Gonter, who fed him far side for the tip-in goal to tie things up with 2:34 to play in the second.
 
Backstrom made six saves in the third period to finish regulation with 40 and help push the game to overtime.
 
Despite a Nichols penalty which put the Rams on a 4-on-3 in overtime, Owen Gonter tucked a goal past Jarret Bovarnick with just eight seconds to play in the overtime period, giving the Bison their second win of the weekend, and their first at home this season.
 
Nichols returns to home ice on Friday, February 10 in a CCC matchup with Western New England with a 5:40 p.m. puck drop scheduled from Levy Rink.