BIDDEFORD, Maine — Behind Daniel Kucerovy's (Bethel Park, Pa.) first career hat-trick, the Endicott men's ice hockey team defeated the University of New England (UNE), 7-3, on Saturday night at the Harold Alfond Forum.
Trailing 2-1 at the end of the first, Kucerovy scored all three of his goals in the second period to guide the Gulls to the victory.
Endicott also received a tally from Luke Rodgers (Clarkston, Mich.) in the second, two empty netters from James Winkler (York, Maine) in the third, and a goal from Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) in the first.
Meanwhile, Conor O'Brien (Pinellas Park, Fla.) stopped 37 shots to improve to 3-2-1 on the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Kucerovy's hat-trick was the sixth in program history.
- Kucerovy joins Jason Kalinowski (Stamford, Conn.), Joseph Slovak (South Yarmouth, Mass.), Logan Day (Seminole, Fla.) and Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.) on the list. Olsson leads the group with two career hat-tricks.
- Endicott and UNE both came into tonight's game ranked No. 3 in the country (DIII) in scoring offense at 5.11 goals per game.
- The Gulls are 6-8-3 against nationally ranked opponents in program history.
- Tonight's seven-goal game versus UNE marks the highest total against a nationally ranked opponent in program history.
- O'Brien has now made 30 or more saves in a game four times this season.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (6-3-1, 5-3-0 CCC) travels to Plymouth State on Thursday, December 6 at 6 PM. No. 5/7 UNE (7-3-0, 5-3-0 CCC) takes on Hobart in the Middlebury College Holiday Classic on Saturday, December 29 at 4 PM in Middlebury, Vermont.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)