Endicott ramps up for playoffs with two big wins
Against Bryant, junior goalie Jeff Pardue was again immense (he had stopped 61 shots in the first meeting against the Bulldogs), making save after save and controlling the rebounds. The difference was that his teammates, who combined for 15 penalties when the two teams met on Nov. 13, were whistled for only four minors this time around. Instead, it was the Bryant players who lost their composure, with nine penalties going against the Bulldogs, leading to several Endicott power play goals. Freshman Chris Garofalo (who garnered seven points on the weekend) got the Gulls on the board first eight minutes into the game. Gathering a pass from defenseman Jeff Lallier, Garofalo made a quick move across the crease to pull Bryant goalie Mike Huggon off his line before depositing a backhander in the back of the net. Bryant got the equalizer with less than three minutes in the period following a mad scramble in front on the Gulls net. After two Bryant shots were knocked down by the Endicott defense, the puck squirted to the right side of the crease, where Kyle Anderson rapped it past Pardue.
Pardue kept the score knotted with several big stops to open the second period, including a sparkling glove stop to deny Bryant at the doorstep. Just past the halfway mark, senior Joe Dudek put the Gulls ahead on a nice feed from Garofalo. The play started with freshman Dennis Uhlman giving up the body to get the puck deep in the Bryant zone. Garofalo beat the Bulldogs defense to the biscuit, and sent it across to Dudek, who slipped it past Huggon for the only goal of the period. The Gulls kept the pressure on the Bryant D during several solid power plays, including several point blasts from defenseman Mike Ripley, but couldn't get another puck past Huggon until the third period.
The Gulls went up 4-1 in the final stanza, on goals from defenseman Mike Feeheley and Garofalo. Garofalo recorded an assist on Feeheley's tally, and then got the eventual game-winner with 11 minutes left on another tough backhander, to finish with four points on the night. Bryant, however, didn't collapse, and with nine minutes left the Bulldogs cut the Endicott lead in half. Anderson again was the opportunistic Bulldog, grabbing a rebound off a shot from Tim Duggan and roofing it over Pardue's shoulder. The Gulls goalie came back with a lunging save across the crease to stuff a point-blank Bryant bid with less than two minutes to go to preserve the lead. Bryant got a questionable goal with 18 seconds left, when Matt Gunn punched the puck over the goal line after Pardue appeared to have it tied up, but it was academic at that point. The Gulls were able to savor the ride home from Rhode Island knowing they'd taken two well-deserved points from last year's NECHA champs.
At home against Bridgewater, the Gulls built on the momentum of their big win the night before, throttling the slower Bears with solid defense and relentless forechecking and backchecking. "We're undefeated with Tim Murphy in the line-up," boasted freshman D'arcy Wiart. "That's the difference." If not for the stellar goaltending of BSC's Dayce Moore, who collected 51 saves, and Endicott's knack for hitting goalposts, the Gulls could have easily pinned another five goals on Bridgewater. Garofalo continued with his hot hand, putting the Gulls up 1-0 at the 12:43 mark with a power play tally. The freshman broke down the left side on his off-wing and wristed a bullet over Moore's glove. Linemate Mark Vaughan got the assist. With 5½ minutes to go in the opening period, Moore absolutely robbed Uhlman of a sure goal when he slid across the crease after the freshman tipped a pinpoint pass from captain Adam Partaledis on net. A minute later, Uhlman got even, when he slipped a turnaround shot underneath the BSC goalie for a 2-0 Endicott lead. Freshman Joel Orlando almost made it 3-0, but was denied by Moore's quick glove hand. However, Moore couldn't catch up to Garofalo's snap shot from the top of the cease, off a nice feed from Vaughan, with less than two minutes to go, and the Gulls went into the intermission with a comfortable 3-goal margin.
Moore continued his acrobatics in the second period, robbing Partaledis and Dudek on successive shots, while Vaughan rung up another shot off the post. With six minutes left in the period, Uhlman put the Gulls up 4-0 with an outstanding shorthanded goal. Sent away on a great pass from Partaledis, the freshman winger blitzed past the BSC defense down the right side before shifting across the cease and burying the puck 5-hole past Moore. Partaledis got another dazzling assist on Endicott's fifth goal, when he threaded the needle on a cross-ice pass to Garofalo, who punched it calmly over Moore for his hat trick. Dudek got the second assist. Endicott could have gone into the locker room up 6-0, but Moore stoned Mike Tonucci with a great left pad save with less than 30 ticks on the clock.
The third period started with more of the same - Moore stuffed great bids by Kenny Dargon and Uhlman, and Feeheley hit another post. Four minutes in, freshman Brian Sullivan, taking a shift at forward, took a big hit to set-up a Jay Fall backhander at the edge of the crease that squeezed through Moore for Endicott's sixth goal. Pardue lost his shut-out bid a minute later, when an off-speed shot from BSC's Steve Hudyka eluded him. Matt Derrane got the assist. From that point on, it was a goaltending duel between Moore and Pardue, with each making several tremendous stops. Pardue's best came with less than eight minutes to go, when he snuffed out a clean Bridgewater breakaway to end any thoughts of a Bears comeback. Lallier finished off the scoring with under three minutes to go, when his slap shot from the point found it's way through a maze of players in front of Moore and into the net for the 7-1 final. These convincing wins placed Endicott in third place behind first place UNH and second place Holy Cross in the East Division.
The Gulls next league match (and final game of the regular season) is at home on Saturday, Feb. 19, against Daniel Webster College at the Pingree School in Hamilton. Game time is 7 p.m. On Sunday, Feb. 20, Endicott will travel to face the U.S. Coast Guard Academy who finished in second place in the West Division, for the first round of the playoffs at 4:45pm.