Gulls Seal Playoff Berth With a Valentine's Day Kiss
Feb. 14, 2004
This was a Valentine's Day that Endicott hockey players will long remember. The holiday proved to be an emotional celebration for the Gulls as they capped off arguably the biggest weekend in the program's three-year history with six straight periods of inspired hockey and a pair of back-to-back wins against league playoff contenders Babson and Bates. The two victories allowed the Gulls to secure 7th place in the final NECHA standings, and they'll ride the momentum of a three-game winning streak to a playoff date with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Engineers on Wednesday, Feb. 18.
On Friday, Endicott traveled down Route 128 to face off against a Babson Beaver team that stonewalled the Gulls in their first meeting of the season, 2-1. But despite the best efforts of acrobatic Babson goaltender Ed McDonough, the Gulls weren't going to be denied on this night. From the opening face-off, the Gulls applied near-constant pressure on the Beavers, forcing the Babson players back on their heels most of the game. Forward Casey Marini broke through Babson's defense at the 5:18 mark of the first period, scoring a power play goal over McDonough's glove off a feed from Jason Fall. McDonough barred the door after Marini's strike, although the Gulls kept firing away. Freshman defenseman Jeff Clattenburg alone had a half-dozen excellent scoring bids, launching several labeled drives from the point, only to be denied by McDonough, while newcomer Mike Manfredi rung the right post twice during a single shift in the second period.
Endicott's 1-0 lead held through the second stanza and most of the third, when freshman Mike Tonucci finally gave the Gulls some breathing room, pouncing on the rebound of a Manfredi shot and stuffing it into the net with six minutes left. Junior Joe Dudek sealed the 3-0 win with an empty-net goal with less that two minutes remaining. Not to be outdone by his Babson counterpart, Endicott's sophomore netminder Jeff Pardue made several tremendous saves, including two clear breakaways in the first period and a handful of point-blank bids in the third period to preserve the win and to earn his first shutout of the season.
Pardue's stellar play continued the next night, when Bates College came to town, and the Gulls brought the same high-energy play to the rink that they displayed against Babson. An early miscue by Clattenburg led to a broken play behind Endicott's net, and a quick feed to Bates' Nick Tierney, who converted a one-timer to put the visitors up 1-0 at the 1:19 mark. However, the early strike seemed to spark the Gulls. Finishing their checks and forechecking relentlessly, the Gulls constantly kept the Bobcats off-balance. Nearly seven minutes into the opening period, Bates gave defenseman Josh Gilbert a clear lane up the left-side boards, and the sophomore defenseman completed a 2-on-1 rush by roofing a pinpoint wrist shot past Evan Langweiler to knot the score at 1-1. Ninety second later, captain Adam Partaledis put the Gulls up 2-1. Battling the bigger Bates defensemen at the top of the crease, Partaledis stood his ground and tipped a point shot from assistant captain Ben Kramer past the Bates keeper.
Bates got even on a bizarre, bad-angle goal by Tierney that struck the post, rolled up on Pardue's shoulder and fell into the net. Undaunted, the Gulls kept attacking. With less than five minutes remaining in the first period, Endicott's Manfredi, who was littering the ice with Bates players after a number of bone-rattling body checks, crashed the slot and tipped a point blast from Gilbert past Langweiler for a 3-2 Endicott lead.
Junior Jason Fall regained the Gulls' two-goal cushion with a nifty wraparound goal off a feed from Mark Vaughan a minute and a half into the second period. That 4-2 lead would hold until the 11:21 mark of the third period, when Bates' Aron Bell took a slick feed at the doorstep of the Endicott goal and tucked a quick snap shot past a sliding Pardue. Minutes later, Pardue returned the favor with a superb diving glove save at the right side of the crease to protect the 4-3 lead. The Bobcats pulled their goalie with a minute to go, and used the extra man to keep pressure in the Endicott zone. After a dangerous centering pass bounced through the slot, Gilbert collected the puck and fired a rink-long shot dead-center into the empty Bates net with 15 seconds left, completing his three-point night, and giving the Gulls the final 5-3 victory.
The back-to-back wins brought the Gulls season mark to 7-9-2. They will play MIT in the opening round of the NECHA playoffs in Cambridge at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 18.
FINIS