BOSTON, Mass.—UMass Boston men's hockey erupted for four goals in the final 13:30 of the second period, to earn a 5-2 win over host Suffolk University on Saturday night at Emmons Horrigan O'Neil Memorial Rink.

THE BASICS

UMass Boston 5, Suffolk University 2

(UMass Boston 13-9-1, NEHC 9-6-1)
(Suffolk University 6-14-2, NEHC 2-11-2)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Sophomore Ethan Nitkin (Miami Beach, Fla.) had his hand in three of the Beacons' four second-period goals, to help the Beacons secure their first three-game New England Hockey Conference winning streak of the year. Nitkin recorded a team-high two goals and added an assist.

Chris Peters (Fairport, N.Y.), Derek Caruso (Port Washington, N.Y.) and Evan Rochowiak (Livonia, Mich.) also scored in the victory.

Ryan Bogan (Brick, N.J.) and Daniel Nachbaur (Richland, Wash.) each added two assists.

Bailey MacBurnie (Beverly, Mass.) made 27 saves on 29 shots in her return to action. The senior goalie improved to 6-4 with the victory.

Joseph Mortillaro and Joe Feeney each scored for the hosts, who suffered their fourth-straight setback. In net, Cal Wilcox made 37 saves on 41 shots to fall to 4-10-2 on the year.

Suffolk came out firing to start the game. The hosts recorded the first eight shots on target of the game and hit two posts in the opening six minutes.

The Rams took the lead just 2:43 into the contest. Mortillaro took a pass from Miller Rubin and fired a shot just under the bar for a 1-0 lead.

UMass Boston settled in after their slow start and went into the first intermission trailing 1-0 and 14-11 in shots.

The Beacons evened the score 6:38 into the second. Nachbaur found Nitkin in the low slot, who made the extra pass to a wide-open Peters for the Beacons' opening goal.

UMass Boston took the lead for good just past the midway point of the contest (10:01). With Suffolk on the power-play, Nick Daluisio (Aston, Pa.) came up with a turnover in the defensive zone and fed Jack Riley (Wrentham, Mass.), who broke Caruso free for his second short-handed goal in as many nights.

Nitkin gave the Beacon some padding at 13:00. Defenseman Evan Heldt (Sylvania, Ohio) and Bogan passed the puck back and forth before Nitkin tipped Heldt's shot past Wilcox.

Feeney cut the deficit to 3-2 with a power-play goal at 17:47, but Nitkin responded less than a minute later off a feed from Nachbaur.

UMass Boston closed out the scoring at 19:10. With the net open, Davis Browning (Houston, Texas) fed Rochowiak for the clinching goal.

BY THE NUMBERS

• UMass Boston outshot the Rams 42-29, including 31-15 over the final two periods. The Beacons also earned a 41-31 edge in face-offs.
• Nachbaur has recorded two assists in each of his past three games. The senior ranks first on the team with his 22 assists and 28 points.
• The Beacons finished the game 0-5 on the power-play, while Suffolk finished 1-8.
• MacBurnie was making his first start and appearance since January 11 (eight games). With the win tonight, he sits two wins shy of tying Zach Andrews ('16) for the program record for career victories (45).
• UMass Boston improved to 16-2-1 all-time against the Rams. The Beacons are unbeaten in the last five meetings (4-0-1).
• Caruso ranks tied for fourth in Division III with his three short-handed goals. He sits tied for second in program history for a single-season and tied for third in career shorthanded goals (five).

WHO'S NEXT

UMass Boston will return home for their final two games of the regular-season. The Beacons host #5 Hobart College on Friday night at 7 p.m., before taking on Skidmore College on Saturday for Senior Day.