BOSTON, Mass. – Junior defenseman Joe Balog (Ludlow, MA) scored the game-winner on a power play goal at 17:34 of the second period to lead the Western New England College men's hockey team to an exciting 2-1 victory over host Suffolk in an ECAC Northeast contest Wednesday night (Feb. 6) at Boston University's Walter Brown Arena.

The Golden Bears, who are 5-1-1 in their last seven outings, raised their record to 5-13-2 overall and 3-6-2 in the conference.

The Rams, who are tied for second in the league, fall to 10-9 and 8-2 in the ECAC Northeast.

All the scoring took place in the second period when Suffolk took a 1-0 lead on a goal by junior forward Kyle Cook (Chino Falls, CA) at the 5:42 mark. Sophomore defenseman Joe Drago (Waltham, MA) earned the assist.

WNEC knotted the contest when junior forward Phil Lamy (Manchester, NH) tallied a short-handed goal at 14:07 with an assist from junior forward Hank Levin (Lido Beach, NY).

That set the stage for Balog who fired home his fifth goal of the season just 3:27 later following an assist from junior forward Mike Majesty (Chicago, IL).

Freshman goalie Justin Richards (Somers, CT) continued his fine play by making 25 saves for the Golden Bears. Freshman Jeff Rose (Collingswood, CT) stopped 37 shots (including 18 in the opening period) for the Rams.