Defensive Miscues Cost Gulls Against WPI

Dec. 13, 2003

The Endicott Gulls couldn't overcome several defensive lapses or Worcester Polytechnic Institute's young dynamic duo of Rick Adams and Wesley Culver, losing to WPI in their last game before semester break. The 6-2 defeat extended Endicott's recent skid, during which the Gulls have lost six of their last seven games.

Culver, a freshman from Maine, got WPI on the board in the first period with a blue-collar effort. After a poor clearing attempt by the Gulls, WPI's Adams darted behind the Endicott net, drawing EC defenseman Scott Vaughan before slipping a pass to Culver in the slot. With the Gulls slow to react, Culver snapped a shot past EC goalie Jeff Pardue for a 1-0 WPI lead. A timid Gull defense led to the second WPI goal as well, when captain Conor Casey was allowed to collect the puck at the goal line, circle untouched around the right face-off dot before firing a forehand shot that found the back of the Gulls' net. Culver collected the assist.

WPI kept the pressure on the Gulls right from the start of the second period. After Endicott's Kenny Dargon failed to collect a breakout pass, WPI displayed a lightning-quick transition game, with Adams headmanning the puck to Culver. Culver spun Endicott's Derek Gagnon and flipped a backhand on Pardue. Though Pardue made the initial stop, WPI's Marc Elbag stuffed the rebound past the Endicott goalie. At the 15-minute mark, the opportune Culver gave WPI a 4-0 cushion when he gathered a rebound by the left post and tucked the puck behind Pardue.

The third period opened with several stellar kick saves by Pardue to keep Endicott within striking distance, but the Gulls were unable to muster any offense of their own, despite a pair of power plays. Any hopes of an Endicott comeback were dashed at the 14-minute mark. Adams got the short-handed back-breaker when he jumped past EC's Joe Dudek at the right point for a 2-on-1 break, took a nice feed from Culver, glided into the slot and rifled a wrist shot over Pardue's glove hand. The Gulls regained some measure of pride three minutes later when Dudek converted on a power play opportunity, wrapping the puck past WPI's Barrett Franklin at the left post. However, any momentum gained by Dudek's goal was lost less than 60 seconds later, when WPI snuck away for another 2-on-1 rush. Pardue made a tremendous sliding save on WPI's Andrew Biery, but Jack Schafer outhustled a pair of Gulls for the rebound and converted for a 6-1 WPI lead. With a minute left in the game, Endicott's Gagnon made a nice play at the blueline to keep the puck in WPI's zone, which led to a crisp feed to the slot by Josh Gilbert that was tipped past Franklin by EC's Tom Clark.

Pardue, who was shaken up after Schafer's goal and left the game, finished with 25 saves on 31 shots. The Gulls, now 4-8-2, will try to regroup during their six-week semester break. Their first scheduled game after break is at home on January 31, against the Crusaders of Holy Cross, at the Pingree School's Johnson Rink in Hamilton.

FINIS