BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's ice hockey team played to a 1-1 (OT) tie against Suffolk University on Saturday evening in front of a sellout crowd at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
Suffolk jumped out to an early 1-0 lead at the 8:24 mark of the first period as sophomore forward Luke Miller (Lancaster, Calif.) punched home a rebound at the doorstop off an initial shot via teammate Jack Jenkins (Billerica, Mass.).
The Gulls evened the score 4:59 later when freshman forward Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.) one-timed his first collegiate goal through traffic into the back of the net after gaining possession of a loose puck in the left face-off circle.
Classmates Alex Marcinek (Byron Center, Mich.) and Parker Wood (Rochester Hills, Mich.) were credited with assists on the tally.
In the second period, both teams had one goal waved off, respectively, before the rest of the contest belonged to the goaltenders as Brandon Smolarek (Chesterfield, Mich.) finished with 34 saves for Suffolk and Kevin Aldridge (Beverly Hills, Mich.) stopped a game-high 37 shots for Endicott.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Olsson can forever hold claim to scoring the first-ever goal for the Gulls at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
- The assist for Wood was the first of his collegiate career, while Marcinek picked up his second helper.
- Marcinek also led all student-athletes with a game-high 19 faceoff wins.
- Aldridge made 15 saves in the first period en route to compiling a career-high 37 saves.
- Prior to today's contest Aldridge had turned away an identical 22 shots against Stonehill and Nichols.
FOR THE FOES
- Miller and Jenkins both earned their first goal and assist, respectively, in the tie.
- Junior goaltender Kevin Venturoso (Franklin, Mass.) had two saves at the tail end of the second period.
- Junior forward Danyil Medvedev (Boston, Mass.) won 15 faceoffs for the Rams.
- Suffolk outshot Endicott by a slim 38-37 margin.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (0-1-2, 0-1-1 ECAC Northeast) takes on Salve Regina next Thursday on the road at 7:45 p.m. Suffolk (1-0-2, 0-0-2 ECAC Northeast) plays Western New England University on Thursday, November 12 at 7:10 p.m. on the road. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
