Oct. 21, 2004
The Endicott Gulls took advantage of a blistering opening 11 minutes to put away Daniel Webster College at the Eagles home rink in Nashua, New Hampshire, on Sunday (Oct. 17). The 9-3 win enabled the Gulls to sweep their season-opening weekend after downing the Boston Junior Blackhawks the night before, 4-3.
With the first period barely half over, the Gulls had already built a 4-0 lead against the Eagles. Junior Mike Tonucci opened the scoring spree at the 4:15 mark, pouncing on a rebound of a shot from freshman D'arcy Wiart, which ricocheted off the back boards to the right edge of the crease, and putting it in the net. Less than a minute later, bruising sophomore forward Mike Manfredi found captain Adam Partaledis barreling through the slot, and Partaledis converted a perfect pass for a quick 2-0 advantage. At 10:22, freshmen defenseman Mike Ripley went coast-to-coast before snapping off a bullet that put the Gulls up by three. Not to be outdone by his classmate, fellow freshman Jack Storti rang up another unassisted tally 17 seconds later.
Buoyed by undisciplined penalties called against the Gulls, the Eagles battled back, and nearly took advantage of several power play opportunities. Sophomore goalie Dan Rudy, however, kept Daniel Webster off the scoreboard with two electric glove saves on labeled shots from close range. With 5:29 left in the opening stanza, senior Kenny Dargon pushed the Gulls margin to 5-0, with Storti getting the assist.
In the second period, the Eagles got their game in gear, and skated even with the Gulls, despite a rash of penalties against both squads. Chris Suffoletto spoiled Rudy's shutout bid with a power play goal at the 4:20 mark. Endicott's Partaledis pushed the margin back to five when he jumped on a loose puck that squirted out of a pile-up in front of Eagles goalie Dusty Mills and deposited it in the net. Ripley and senior assistant captain Derek Gagnon rung up assists.
Daniel Webster capitalized on another power play opportunity at the 3:05 mark of the third period, when Mike Diamantopoulos ripped a quick wrist shot that broke through Rudy to cut the Gulls lead to 6-2. Endicott answered with a pair of goals late in the period. The first featured another fine individual effort by Ripley as he rushed the puck up the right side before feathering a smooth pass to senior Jason Fall, who scored for a 7-2 Gull lead. Forty seconds later, Tonucci got his second goal of the game, with assists from Wiart and Dargon, and the Gulls were cruising with an 8-2 cushion. Still, Daniel Webster didn't quit, and Sean Jamieson got the Eagles third power play goal with a minute-and-a-half left on a nice tip-in off a point shot from Drew Philipp. Endicott's Wiart closed out the scoring with seconds left, converting a nice pass from Tonucci for the final 9-3 margin.
The next home game for Endicott (2-0) comes on Saturday, Oct. 23, during Homecoming celebrations, as the Gulls take on Western Connecticut at the Pingree School in Hamilton. Game time is 7 p.m.
