BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 10 nationally ranked Endicott women's ice hockey team posted a 3-0 league victory over Salem State University on Friday night at Raymond J. Bourque Arena to clinch its first-ever Colonial Hockey Conference (CHC) regular season title. The Gulls have now earned the right to host the CHC Tournament, and also secured a first round bye in the playoffs, with tonight's win.
After Salem State controlled momentum with five shots on goal through the first four minutes of action, Endicott bounced back with two tallies over a 2:10 span, and squashed any chance of an upset on its own ice.
Freshman defenseman Madison Huber (Pittsburgh, Pa.) started the scoring at the 9:12 mark on a shot through traffic from the right point, while classmate Michaela McNamara (Warwick, R.I.) made it 2-0 with a sniper into the right corner of the net at 11:22 of the period.
Jillian Gibbs (Burlington, Vt.) went on to clinch the victory in the second with her 11th goal of the season at 16:31 on a slap shot from the left wing faceoff circle via a feed from Meaghan Farragher (Bridgewater, Mass.).
Endicott goaltender Vendela Jonsson (Linkoping, Sweden) made 18 saves in the win (14-2-1). Meanwhile, Salem State netminder Katherine Crane (Arlington, Mass.) turned away a season-high (tied) 38 shots in the loss (1-4-0).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 4-0-0 in the all-time series versus the Vikings.
- The Gulls have outscored Salem Sate 12-1 in those four matchups.
- Endicott secured its first 20-win season in program history with tonight's triumph (20-3-1).
- Maggie Layo (Sandwich, Mass.) won a team-high nine faceoffs.
FOR THE FOES
- Madison Black (North Allegheny, Pa.) registered a game-high 13 face-off victories.
- Kayla Kopinski (Elma, N.Y.) and Ally Webster (Hanson, Mass.) tied for the game-high in blocked shots with four apiece.
WHAT'S NEXT
No. 10 Endicott (20-3-1, 10-1-0 CHC) travels to Salem State (4-18-1, 2-9-0 CHC) tomorrow evening at Rockett Arena to complete the home-and-home series between the two programs at 5 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.