PORTSMOUTH, R.I. – The Endicott men's ice hockey team edged Salve Regina University, 7-5, on Thursday night at the Portsmouth Abbey Ice Rink to earn its first win in program history.
Following a scoreless first period, Endicott scored five goals – including two on the power play – to produce a 5-1 advantage headed into the final 20 minutes of play.
Cam Bleck (Lake Forest, Ill.) put the Gulls on the scoreboard just 59-seconds into the second period with his second career collegiate goal (power play), while Parker Wood (Rochester Hills, Mich.), Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.), and Lloyd Hayes (West Newbury, Mass.) all followed with tallies of their own to jump ahead, 4-0.
Salve Regina's Liam Centrella (Andover, Mass.) countered with his first goal of the season at the 12:49 mark, but Wood answered for Endicott nearly a full minute later to cap the scoring in the period and record the first multi-goal game in program history.
The third period featured much of the same back-and-forth goal scoring action as Salve Regina went on to outscore Endicott 4-2 over the last 20 minutes of action. The Seahawks opened with a pair of goals before Josh Bowes (Sturgeon County, Alberta, Canada) rifled home a power play marker at 9:20 to move the score to 6-3 in favor of the Gulls.
After back-to-back goals by Lucas Sousa (Billerica, Mass.) and Evan Schmidbauer (San Diego, Calif.) pulled the Seahawks within one (6-5) less than four minutes remaining in the contest, Bleck slipped home an empty net goal at 19:43 to secure the first-ever win in program history for Endicott.
Defensively down the stretch, Endicott freshman goaltender Kevin Aldridge (Beverly Hills, Mich.) needed to make one save, while the Gulls also blocked two shots to stymie Salve Regina's comeback bid late in the contest.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Aldridge made 31 saves in the win (1-1-2).
- Wood and Bleck are the first two student-athletes in program history to register multi-goal games.
- Wood currently leads the team in goals with three this season.
- Bleck scored the first-ever empty net goal for the Gulls in tonight's victory.
- Bowes and Hayes scored their first career collegiate goals tonight.
- Endicott was credited with 11 assists on the night.
- Freshman forward Joseph Kaszupski (Henderson, Nev.) won a team-high 16 faceoffs.
- The Gulls were 2-for-5 on the power play.
- Tonight's seven goals scored are the most in a single-game in program history.
- Bleck's goal in the second period gave the Gulls their first-ever lead in a game this season.
FOR THE FOES
- Blake Wojtala (Trenton, Mich.) stopped 13 shots, while Alexander Devine (Hampton, N.H.) turned away five shots.
- Salve Regina outshot Endicott, 36-25.
- Schmidbauer won a game-high 21 faceoffs in the loss, and finished with a plus-2 rating.
- The Gulls were 55-for-97 in faceoffs on the night.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (1-1-2, 1-1-1 ECAC Northeast) hosts Wentworth on Saturday, November 14 at 3 p.m. Salve Regina (0-4-1, 0-2-1 ECAC Northeast) travels to Becker on Sunday, November 15 at 7:30 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.