BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott sophomore forward Maggie Layo (Sandwich, Mass.) found the back of the net with 13-seconds remaining in the third period to lift the Gulls to a 2-1 win over Becker College on Friday night at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
Late in the third, Layo corralled a loose puck near the right face-off circle and quickly roofed her second career goal, glove side, past Becker goaltender Julia Johnson (Littleton, Colo.) to push Endicott's winning streak to five straight games. Meredith Vlachos (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Ellen Carter (Roseville, Minn.) both earned assists on the tally.
Becker held an early 1-0 advantage in the contest as freshman forward Gina Beth Manganiello (Peabody, Mass.) opened up the scoring less than four minutes (3:54) in when she sniped her second goal of the season top shelf, glove side behind Endicott goaltender Carrera Noelscher (Georgetown, K.Y.).
Gulls freshman forward Dynnea Bezona (Fairbanks, Alaska) went on to even the score at the 19:39 mark of the first period with a great individual effort from center ice. After Bezona beat a defender one-on-one, Johnson stopped Bezona's initial scoring opportunity, but Bezona stuck with the play and tapped home the rebound for her second goal of the season to make it a 1-1 game.
Johnson played outstanding throughout the matchup recording a season-high 58 saves in the loss (0-2-0), including a game-high 24 in the third. Noelscher finished with eight saves to bump her record to 2-0-0 on the year.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Layo contributed a peculiar fun fact in the win as the freshman forward, who wears No. 13, scored with 13-seconds remaining on Friday the 13th.
- Endicott had not allowed a goal for 243:53 consecutive minutes prior to Manganiello's first period tally.
- Freshman forward Linnéa Jonsson (Linkoping, Sweden) picked up her first career assist on Bezona's goal.
- Vlachos went 13-for-16 in faceoffs, while Bezona was 12-for-16.
- Carter and Danielle Comorre (Tujunga, Calif.) both finished with a plus-2 rating in the win.
- Endicott outshot Becker, 60-9.
- The Gulls blocked 23 shots defensively on the night.
FOR THE FOES
- Freshman defenseman Elysabeth Jefferies (Lisbon Falls, Maine) was credited with her first career assist on Manganiello's goal in the first.
- Freshman forward Claudia Gee (Randolph, Vt.) won nine faceoffs.
- Gee, Michaela Martin (Sheldon, Vt.), and Emily Dennee (Chandler, Ariz.) tied for the team-high in shots with two apiece.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (5-0-0, 3-0-0 CHC) travels to Becker (0-4-0, 0-3-0 CHC) tomorrow to complete a home-and-home series with the Hawks at 8 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.