Boston, Mass. (January 22) -- The Assumption College men's ice hockey team suffered a close 6-5 loss after a comeback attempt fell short at Suffolk University on Thursday night. Freshman Cam Laughlin (Natick, Mass. / The Governor's Academy) led Assumption with two goals, including one with just 17 seconds left on the clock to bring the Hounds within one before the final buzzer.

With the loss, Assumption falls to 7-12 on the season while the Rams improve to 10-5-1 overall.

Over the first frame and a half, it was Suffolk that dominated, 5-1. However, the Hounds picked up momentum in the second half of the contest, out-scoring the Rams 4-1 over the last 26 minutes.

Suffolk jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage in the first period after the Rams netted two goals within three minutes. Junior Alex Erban (Attleboro, Mass. / Mount Saint Charles) cut the deficit in half just less than five minutes later (15:05) with his ninth goal of the season. Erban was assisted by freshman Matt Cowles (Farmington, Conn. / Avon Old Farms) and sophomore Stephen Picard (Enfield, Conn. / Loomis Chaffee) on the play that sent the Hounds into the locker room down 2-1 after the first.

In the second period, Suffolk fired off three more tallies by the 13th minute to lift its lead to 5-1 before Laughlin struck with his first collegiate goal at 14:16. Sophomore Ryan Gomez (Wayne, N.J. / Wayne Valley) and senior Joe Arcieri (Newmarket, N.H. / St. Thomas Aquinas) notched assists on the play.

Assumption scored again less than five minutes later, with just eight seconds left in the period. Senior Trevor Plante (Blackstone, Mass. / Mt. St. Charles), assisted by Cowles and Gomez, brought Assumption back within two (5-3) with the man advantage.

The Hounds allowed just one more goal from the Rams early in the third before Plante ripped another power-play goal. Gomez and Laughlin found Plante for the score and play continued with Assumption trailing 6-4.

Assumption's final effort came when Laughlin, assisted by Erban and Cowles, found the back of the net at 19:43 to make it 6-5 with just 17 seconds left on the clock.

In goal, sophomore Nick Commesso (Marshfield, Mass. / Archbishop Williams) notched 14 saves in over 33 minutes while allowing the first five goals before junior Chris Hemhauser (Old Saybrook, Conn. / Glastonbury) finished out the contest. Hemhauser tallied 11 saves and one goal in just over 26 minutes and takes the loss for the Hounds. Rams' goalie Brandon Smolarek earned the win for Suffolk after notching 16 saves in 60 minutes between the pipes.

Assumption was able to capitalize on three of seven power-play opportunities while the Rams converted just two of three. Suffolk outshot the Hounds 31-21 on the day.

The Greyhounds return to action on Tuesday, Jan. 27, as they travel to Franklin Pierce for a 7 p.m. Northeast-10 match-up before returning home to face Southern New Hampshire on Jan. 31.

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