Rash Of Penalties Add Up To Endicott's First Loss
Nov. 15, 2004
Despite the acrobatic efforts of junior goaltender Jeff Pardue, the Bryant College Bulldogs snapped Endicott's undefeated run through the early season, 5-3, on Saturday (Nov. 13). Pardue's 61 saves on 66 Bryant shots couldn't make up for the 15 penalties called against the Gulls, allowing the Bulldogs to control much of the play throughout the game.
The night got off to a promising start for the Gulls, as sophomore Mike Manfredi finished a lightning rush by captain Adam Partaledis right off the opening face-off. After steamrolling down the left boards, Partaledis pressured a Bryant defender into coughing up the puck. Assistant captain Joe Dudek collected the loose biscuit, and tried a wrap-around from behind the net, only to be denied by Bryant goalie Mike Huggon. The rebound rolled out to Manfredi, who buried it at the 30-second mark.
Bryant evened the score five minutes in, as Matt Gunn took a pass from Cory Everett, walked in from the left point and ripped a slap shot past Pardue's blocker. Pardue redeemed himself with a sharp save on a point-blank bid from the top of the crease, and moment's later Endicott freshman Dennis Uhlman put the Gulls back on top with a nice individual effort. Taking advantage of a Bryant defensive miscue, Ulman picked up the puck at the high slot and muscled it past Huggon. The Endicott lead, however, was short-lived. With 11 minutes left in the period, Bryant's Paul Todesca, on a nice feed from Everett, broke across the left slot and slid a perfect shot along the ice past Pardue's left pad, just inside the post and into the Endicott net. Bryant kept Pardue the rest of the period, firing 25 shots at the Endicott goalie, but the first period ended in a 2-2 stalemate.
The Gulls opened the second period the same way they started the game - on the attack. Taking advantage of a 5-on-3 power play, Endicott's Mike Ripley fired a laser from the left point that was stopped by Huggon. Dudek dug out the rebound, but was also stopped by the Bryant goalie. Partaledis made sure the third time was the charm, ringing the puck off both posts and into the net for a 3-2 Gull lead. On the other end, Pardue made several spectacular saves as the Endicott penalty killers were required to work overtime, due to a rash of penalties called against the Gulls. With less than four and a half minutes left in the middle period, just as Partaledis was jumping out of the penalty box, Bryant got the equalizer off a scrum in front. Everett poked the puck out of a pile of players in the slot and popped it over a prone Pardue and into an open net. Thirty seconds later, Pardue made a dandy sliding save on a Bryant breakaway to keep the game even.
Disaster struck with only 11 seconds left in the period, when Bryant notched a backbreaking tally. Kevin McCarthy pried the puck out of the corner and shuffled it to Mike Folino at the top of the crease, who slid it past Pardue for a bang-bang score and a demoralizing 4-3 Bryant lead going into intermission. In the third period, the Endicott parade to the penalty box continued. Bryant got an insurance goal when Ed Brady capitalized on a miscommunication between Pardue and Ripley. The puck snuck through Pardue's pads, and Brady fortuitously tapped it home for a 5-3 Bulldog lead. Endicott's Ken Dargon came within a whisker of getting the Gulls back to a one-goal margin at the 8-minute mark, but Huggon made a stellar toe save off Dargon's wrist shot labeled at the left corner of the Bryant goal. Pardue kept the Gulls close throughout the last half of the period with a number of brilliant saves while Endicott was skating one and two men down, and the team kept hustling every shift. But late penalties robbed the home team of any chance to get even, and the clock finally ran out on Endicott's undefeated season.
The Gulls next league match is Friday (Nov. 19) on the road against University of New Hampshire in Durham. The next home game for Endicott comes on Saturday, Nov. 20, against the University of Vermont Catamounts at the Pingree School in Hamilton. Game time is 7 p.m.