BOSTON, Mass. – Senior Mike Domsodi's (Kirkland, Que.) power play goal in the middle of the third put the Leopards on top and proved to be the game-winner, as the Wentworth Institute of Technology ice hockey team defeated Suffolk University 2-1 in non-conference action Sunday night at Walter Brown Arena.
With the win, Wentworth snaps a three-game losing and four-game winless (0-3-1) streak and now stands at 5-5-1 while the Rams drop their first of the season to stand at 7-1-1.
The opening period was a scoreless 20 minutes of play. The Leopards outshot the Rams 10-6 with five of those shots coming on the power play.
After killing off a two minute minor penalty, Suffolk responded by putting the first goal on the board. Sophomore Connor Lawrence (White Plains, N.Y.) gathered the puck in his defensive zone and passed it to classmate Simon Leahy (Milwaukee, Wis.). Leahy led the two-on-two rush with sophomore forward Stanton Turner (San Francisco, Calif.) on his right side. Turner took Leahy's pass and fired a shot to the back of the net for the 1-0 lead. Wentworth once again won the shot battle (12-5), but were unable to get on the board in the second period.
At 9:11 of the third period, the Leopards got onto the scoreboard thanks to a rebound goal by freshman Nick Newman (Saugus, Calif.). Freshman Jake McDonough (Marshfield, Mass.) fired a shot from the left circle that was saved and deflected behind the net. The puck bounced off the back boards, slid into the slot, where Newman sent it into the net to tie the game 1-1. Just under three minutes later, Domsodi put Wentworth on top. While on the power play, the Leopards won the offensive zone face-off and got sophomore Patrick Kearns (Brick, N.J.) the puck at the top of the left circle. Kearns sent a pass across ice to Domsodi in the right circle, who fired a one-time blast that flew past goalie Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mich.) on the low right side. Suffolk was unable to bring out the extra attacker in the final minute, as the Leopards secured the 2-1 victory.
Senior Alex Peck (Kirkland, Que.) made 15 saves in net for the Leopards and Smolarek stopped 35 shots. Wentworth held a 37-16 shot advantage and won 48 of 71 face offs for the contest.
Both teams resume play after New Year's Day, as both will take part in the Salem State Holiday Classic. The Leopards face Wesleyan on January 2 at 4 p.m. and Suffolk plays host Salem State at 7 p.m.
