May 9, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. - Endicott College used six fourth quarter goals to hold off Massachusetts Maritime, 17-10, in the second round of the ECAC Championships held at Endicott Stadium in Beverly, Mass. on Saturday afternoon. The Gulls improve to 16-4 and will move on to their second-consecutive ECAC Championship game on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. against New England College, while the Buccaneers close out their season at 9-7. Brandon Dube (Danvers, Mass.) led the Gulls with a seven point effort, scoring five goals and handing out a pair of assists.
The Gulls were able to score in the first minute of action as Brad Lipkvich (Madison, Conn.) found a wide open Dube in the crease for the early 1-0 lead. Endicott scored two minutes later when Dube returned the favor and handed out his first assist on a Lipkvich top-shelf goal.
The Buccaneers would respond however as Brian Burke (Del Mar, Calif.) scored two straight goals to knot the game at two-all. Endicott responded with a 4-0 run, including a pair of goals by Dube, to take back the lead at 6-2. Mass. Maritime scored once more in the period before Dube added his final two goals of the day for an 8-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
In the second frame, the Buccaneers struck first as Burke scored again on a Kevin Schultz (Crofton, Md.) to cut the deficit in half, 8-4.
EC would score the next two goals as Brian Vincent (Norwalk, Conn.) and Nick Cosco (Londonderry, N.H.) combined to give the Gulls a 10-4 lead. Maritime would not go quietly as the Buccaneers scored the next four goals of the contest, and made it a 10-8 game. Schultz would tally a goal of his own while Connor Burke (Del Mar, Calif.) sandwiched a pair of goals between a Brian Burke goal in the run.
The Gulls finally stopped the bleeding when Dan Cain (Billerica, Mass.) found Lipkvich who sniped a 10-yard shot to the back of the net for some breathing room at 11-8.
Justin Sproul (Londonderry, N.H.) scored the first goal of the fourth quarter for the Gulls before Burke netted his fifth goal of the contest to keep the Buccaneers within striking distance. That would be as close as Mass. Maritime would get as the Gulls scored five straight goals to put the game out of reach and advance onto the ECAC Championships.
Eric Hagarty (Sudbury, Mass.) picked up the win in net for the Gulls as he made 16 stops while allowing 10 goals. Dube had a team-high seven points while Cosco picked up two goals and an assist with Justin Sproul recording a hat-trick in the win.
Alex Deveaux (Northboro, Mass.) suffered the setback while making 14 saves and allowing 17 goals. The Burke duo combined for 10 points with Brian scoring six goals and an assist while Connor had two goals and an assist. Schultz picked up a pair of goals and two assists as well for the Buccaneers.
Endicott moves onto their second straight ECAC Championship game as the Gulls were the 2008 ECAC Champions. The Gulls will matchup with The Commonwealth Coast Conference foe New England College on Sunday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.
