BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 7/9 nationally ranked Endicott men's ice hockey team finished off its 2016-17 regular season with a 6-2 victory over Suffolk University on Monday evening at Raymond J. Bourque Arena. Today's game was rescheduled from February 9, 2017 due to inclement weather.
Just one minute into the first period, Endicott took a 1-0 advantage on a Jason Kalinowski (Stamford, Conn.) one-timer from the slot, and the Gulls' eventual win never looked in doubt for the remainder of the matchup.
Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.), Kalinowski, Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alberta), and Joseph Slovak (So. Yarmouth, Mass.) added to the Gulls' quick lead with four unanswered tallies that stretched all the way into the midway point of the second period to put the game on ice.
Cam Bleck (Lake Forest, Ill.) then capped Endicott's scoring with 53-seconds left to play in the same period on his NCAA Division III leading 10th power play goal of the season.
Endicott goaltender Kevin Aldridge (Birmingham, Mich.) collected 32 saves in the win (17-3-2), while Suffolk netminder Will Ribas (Westwood, Mass.) had 27 saves and picked up the loss (0-1-1) on 40 minutes played in goal.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 3-0-1 in the all-time series versus Suffolk.
- The Gulls have also outscored the Rams 16-8 during those matchups.
- Endicott went 3-for-4 on the power play to remain the No. 1 special teams unit in all of NCAA Division III (40-130, 30.8%).
- In their last four games, the Gulls have gone 10-for-24 on the power play (41.7%).
- The Blue and Green also rank second in the country in combined special teams (power play/penalty kill) going 170/277 (61.4) so far on the season.
- John Carricato (Ridge, N.Y.) led all student-athletes with 15 face-off wins. Besinger was second with 14 victories, while Jack Musil (Hull, England) was third (11).
- As a team, Endicott won 50 total face-offs.
FOR THE FOES
- Danyil Medvedev (Boston, Mass.) broke open the shutout with his fifth tally of the season at the 18:31 mark of the second period when he gathered a puck in the slot that was played off the wall by Jack Jenkins (Billerica, Mass.) and scored on Aldridge all alone with a deke move from the left to right post.
- Justin Holliday (Stow, Ohio) buried Suffolk's only other tally on a redirect near the left post off a shot by Mikhail Bryan (Dayton, Ohio) that came from the left point at 3:55 of the third.
- Kevin Venturoso (Franklin, Mass.) played the final 20 minutes of action in net for the Rams and came away with 19 saves.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 7/9 Endicott (20-3-2, 14-3-1 CCC) and Suffolk (7-13-5, 4-11-3 CCC) will now await the announcement of their opponents in the upcoming Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament later this week. The Gulls have already claimed the No. 1 seed in the tournament, while Suffolk's playoff fate will be determined later tonight by the results of today's remaining conference games that have yet to go final. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
