Huskies End the Season at 12-13-2

            GORHAM, Maine -- Sophomore Izzy Hendry (Holladay, Utah) scored a power-play goal midway through the third period to give the sixth-seeded Suffolk University Rams a 2-1 victory of the fourth-seeded University of Southern Maine Huskies in a semifinal round game of the 2020 New England Hockey Conference Championship Tournament at the USM Ice Arena on Saturday.

            The win propels the Rams, 10-14-3 overall, into next weekend's championship game at top-seeded Norwich University.  Norwich, 21-4-2 and ranked seventh in the nation, earned the right to host the championship game with a 10-0 thumping of seventh-seeded Plymouth State University.  The Huskies, hosting a semifinal-round playoff game for the first time in program history, ended their season at 12-13-2.

            Southern Maine, down 1-0 entering the third period, got the equalizer at 5:35 when junior Rylie Binette (Milan, N.H.) collected the puck in her own end and skated the length of the ice to beat Suffolk rookie goalie Julia McLellan (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich.) with a nifty move to the backhand.  The unassisted goal was the sixth of the season for Binette.

            The Huskies were whistled for a minor penalty at 10:08 to put the Rams on the power play.  Sophomore Jesse Kennedy (Southworld, Ontario) hustled to keep the puck in the offensive end and moved the puck to Hendry in the center of the ice.  Hendry looked and fired a shot that beat USM senior goalie Whitney Padgett (Eden Prairie, Minn.) at 11:15 to put the Rams ahead.

            The Huskies had a chance with 1:08 to play when they went on the power play.  The Rams did an effective job keeping the home side at bay.  A minor penalty to USM with 12 seconds to play effectively ended the Huskies chances for a tying goal.

            After a scoreless first period, the Rams went on top 1-0 at 12:00 of the second period as junior Maddy Burton (Auroa, Ill.) redirected a pass from sophomore Shana Cote (Broomfield, Colo.) by Padgett's left skate.  The USM goalie had stopped Cote's wrap-around attempt, but Cote slid the rebound across the front onto Burton's stick.

            Suffolk finished the game with a 27-13 edge in shots on goal, and converted on 1 of 3 power plays.  Southern Maine went 0 for 4 on the power play.

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