Gulls win second straight ECAC Championship

May 10, 2009

 Box Score

 BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College scored at least four goals in every quarter en route to a 22-4 victory over New England College in the ECAC Championship game on Sunday afternoon in Beverly, Mass. The Gulls (17-4) wrap up their season with their second consecutive ECAC crown while the Pilgrims close out the 2009 campaign with a 10-8 record. Nick Cosco (Londonderry, N.H.) led the Gulls with a game-high nine points on three goals and six assists.

The Gulls started the game by scoring the first 10 goals of the contest with Cosco picking up six assists during the stretch. Brad Lipkvich (Madison, Conn.), Brandon Dube (Danvers, Mass.), Jack Curtis (Chelmsford, Mass.), and Cosco each scored a pair of goals in the run with Dan Cain (Billerica, Mass.) and Taylor Wuenneman (Southington, Conn.) adding the other two goals. The 10-0 run stretched until the 6:05 mark of the second quarter with NEC finally getting on the board with a Matt Goyette (Lowell, Mass.) scoring on a loose ball that trickled into the net.

Wuenneman and Cain would each score their second goals of the half in the final two minutes of the frame for a 12-1 halftime advantage.

NEC's Matt Carey (Medford, N.J.) would score the first goal of the second half on a pass from John Gabriel (West Nyack, N.Y.) to make it 12-2. However the Gulls would go on a 9-0 run, spanning the end of the third and midway through the fourth quarter to ice the game for the Gulls.

Eric Hagarty (Sudbury, Mass.) picked up the win in net for the Gulls as he made six saves. Cosco, Dube, and Wuenneman each finished with a hat-trick while Curtis, Cain, and Lipkvich finished with two goals apiece. Joe Gugino (West Hartford, Conn.) had a good at the X as he won 15-of-20 face offs and scooped up 11 ground balls.

NEC's Nick Acquaviva (Syracuse, N.Y.) suffered the loss for the Pilgrims despite making 16 saves in the contest. John Gabriel led the offense for New England College as he scored a pair of goals. Carey and Goyette added the other goals while Clint McDonough (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) handed out NEC's lone assist.

Endicott dominated in every statistic as the Gulls held the edge in shots (59-28), groundballs (59-30), face-offs (19-of-30), forced 24 NEC turnovers and cleared at 17-for-19 clip.

Brandon Dube was named the ECAC Most Valuable Player as he scored eight goals and dished out three assists in the tournament.