Endicott Falls Short at Springfield, 5-4

Nov. 14, 2003

If not for two critical lapses - one at the end of the first period and another midway through the second - the Gulls might have been able to sneak out of Smead Arena with a win over league power Springfield College. However, those two letdowns accounted for four Pride goals, and sunk Endicott's bid for its first win in five games.

In a bruising, physical contest at Springfield, the Gulls drew first blood, with freshman defenseman Jeff Clattenburg scoring a power play goal with assists from captain Adam Partaledis and junior Joe Dudek. However, with less than a minute to go in the opening period, and Endicott's Josh Gilbert sitting in the sin bin for a two-minute slashing penalty, Springfield got the equalizer on a goal by John Beattie. Eleven seconds later, the Pride struck again, with Peter Zielbaure putting the puck past Endicott's Jeff Pardue for a 2-1 Springfield lead just before intermission.

The Gulls came out of the gates flying in the second period, and knotted the game on a goal by Dudek at the six-minute mark. Three minutes later, Endicott's twin brothers, Scott and Mark Vaughan, teamed up for the go-ahead goal, with Scott converting on a nice feed from Mark. The lead was short-lived, unfortunately, and the next 30 seconds put the Gulls in a deep hole. Five second's after the Vaughan goal, Springfield's Matt Flood beat Pardue to tie the score at 3-3. Twenty-four seconds later, Pride captain Jeff Harpham tallied the first of his two goals on the night, giving Springfield a 4-3 lead. At the 15:28 mark, Harpham struck again, this time for the game-winner, redirecting a Flood pass behind Pardue. Endicott got back within striking distance a minute later, when junior Jason Fall collected a pass from Mike Tonucci and snapped the puck by Springfield's Bob Amarone for a power play goal, cutting the pride lead to 5-4. Forward Casey Marini also assisted on Fall's goal.

The Gulls had several chances to tie the game in the third period, but couldn't take advantage of four power play opportunities. The loss dropped Endicott's season record to 3-5-2, and had dire consequences for their game the following night against the Boston Junior Blackhawks, with starters Partaledis, Clattenburg and Marini all knocked out with injuries. The Gulls next game will be at home, against Connecticut College, on Saturday, Nov. 22.

FINIS