Courageous Gulls blanked by Crusaders in NEHCA semifinals
Feb. 28, 2005
The Endicott Gulls hockey team fought with the heart of a champion, but in the end couldn't overcome a talent-laden Holy Cross squad, falling 3-0 in the semifinals of the NEHCA tournament on Saturday at the Conway Arena in Nashua, N.H. Endicott's hopes of reaching the title game were thwarted by the play of the Crusader goalie Peter Bartline, who stymied the young Gulls throughout the game, and a rash of penalties that forced Endicott to play shorthanded for much of the first two periods.
Both teams came out of the gate skating and hitting hard. With just over a minute gone by freshman Jeff Lallier got free for a nice shot from the point that was gobbled up by Bartline, which would become a recurring theme for the rest of the game. Thirty seconds later, Jeff Pardue, who had an excellent game in the Endicott goal, stuffed an HC scoring bid and covered the rebound. That was the storyline for the next 10 minutes, with each team getting a few decent scoring opportunities, and both goalies looking strong and confident. At the 9:30 mark, Endicott looked to capitalize on a 30-second, 5-on-3 power play when freshman Mike Ripley had two serious scoring chances, but Bartline made quality stops on both bids. Pardue made a big pad save to deny a Crusader breakaway with almost 12 minutes gone, and again 90 seconds later when he flashed his left pad to block a point-blank bid. At the 15-minute mark, the Gulls went down two men on simultaneous calls, but Pardue and the Endicott penalty killers came up with a huge effort to keep Holy Cross off the board. However, the constant shorthanded play caught up with the Gulls after forward Kenny Dargon was whistled for a slashing penalty. On the ensuing power play, the Crusaders broke through the Endicott defense when senior Rob Clifford managed to gain position on Ripley and tip a point blast by Joe Weber past Pardue. Shaking off the goal, Pardue made two more exceptional stops as the period wound down, and finished with 18 saves in the opening stanza.
The Gulls narrowly missed falling behind 2-0 when the Crusaders hit a goal post 20 seconds into the second period, and Pardue was called upon to make another tough stop with 2½ minutes gone. Bartline made two key saves to foil an Endicott power play five minutes in, and then Holy Cross struck back with a textbook power play goal at the 6:42 mark. Taking advantage of his teammates crisp, cross-ice passing that kept Endicott's penalty-killers off balance, Crusader Joe Mantovani snuck behind the Gulls defense at the right post and bury a quick wrist shot past a diving Pardue for a commanding 2-0 lead. Crusaders Will Buston and Brendan Webb got the assists.
That goal seemed to spark the Gulls, who fought toe-to-toe with the Crusaders for the rest of the period. Bartline denied freshman Joel Orlando after a nice rush by classmate Brendan Donnelly, and then captain Adam Partaledis hit the right post with a quick wrist shot. Pardue kept the Gulls close with a miraculous save while lying on his side, stabbing his catching glove in the air to deflect a point-blank bid by Holy Cross. Two minutes later, Dargon rung a snap shot off the crossbar, and Bartline calmly gathered a blast from Partaledis without giving up a rebound. A sprawling stop by Pardue with 3½ minutes left kept the Gulls within striking distance, as the EC netminder collected another 15 saves in the middle stanza.
The third period opened like the second ended, with the action going end-to-end. At the 6½-minute mark, Weber put the game on ice with another Holy Cross power play tally. The big defenseman caught the Endicott defense on their heels, and with the puck on edge, boomed a rocket that eluded Pardue and caught the inside edge of the net for the final nail in Endicott's season. Still, the Gulls didn't quit, though their legs showed the strain of killing off too many penalties. Pardue shut the Crusaders down the rest of the way, finishing with 43 saves on the day. But Endicott couldn't solve Bartline, and the Crusader goalie carried Holy Cross into the finals.
The Gulls one consolation was that they lost to the eventual league champion, as the Crusaders nipped the University of New Hampshire, 5-4, in the NECHA finals on Sunday. Endicott finished the 2004-05 campaign with a sparkling overall record of 15-5-1 (7-4-1 in division play), and a 5-1 playoff win against the Coast Guard Academy.