Nov. 12, 2004
If winning ugly is the key to success, then the Endicott Gulls had the look of winners on Wednesday (Nov. 10) after squeaking out a hard-fought 4-3 overtime win over Bridgewater State College in a rough-and-tumble away game. Sophomore forward Mike Manfredi buried his second goal of the game during sudden death, with an assist from senior assistant captain Joe Dudek, to keep the Gulls undefeated (6-0-1) on the young season.
Bridgewater took the play to Endicott right from the opening face-off, and junior netminder Jeff Pardue had to be sharp to keep the Bears off the board. Once the Gulls found their legs, the play went from end-to-end, with hard hitting and constant forechecking characterizing the play of both squads. Five minutes in, Manfredi broke the ice with Endicott's first goal, rewarding a fine individual effort by captain Adam Partaledis. Breaking in on the right win, Pardaledis shook off a solid check and still managed to snap off a wrist shot that Bridgewater goalie Dayce Moore stopped but couldn't control. Manfredi grabbed the rebound and snuck it into the Bridgewater net. A minute later, the Gulls struck again, capitalizing on a power play opportunity. Freshman Jeff Lallier fed the puck deep to Pardaledis, who slipped a soft pass to Dudek. Without hesitating, Dudek threaded the puck past Moore for a 2-0 Endicott lead.
The Bears, however, battled right back, and with six and a half minutes left in the first period, they got their first strike. Pardue made a nice stop of Bridgewater's Matt Russell, who had skipped the puck past Lallier and charged up the right side before veering into the slot and firing off a quick wrist shot that Pardue got with his left pad. Bridgewater's Brian Travers gathered the rebound, and sent a beautiful pass to captain Bobby Walsh in the high slot. Walsh wound up and one-timed a blast past Pardue to cut the Endicott lead in half. Less than four minutes later, the Bears got the equalizer with their own power play goal, right off a face-off in Endicott's zone. Bridgewater co-captain Jon Herman surprised Endicott freshman Mike Feeheley, steeling the puck at the top of the crease and ramming it past Pardue.
In the second period, Pardue blanked the Bears while Endicott's Chris Garofalo put the Gulls up by a goal. After a determined rush up the right boards by Garofalo, Dudek picked the puck up behind the net and feathered a slick pass to Partaledis. Moore blocked the bid by Partaledis, but couldn't recover in time to grab Garofalo's rebound tally. However, the Bridgewater netminder shut the Gulls down for the rest of regulation, and with seven minutes left in the game, Bridgewater pulled even. After a clean face-off win for the Bears, Michael Carr took the puck at the right point and tossed it on net, where Tyler Pinto tipped it passed a screened Pardue to knot the score at 3-all. Endicott kept attacking, but Moore stymied the Gulls until overtime, when Manfredi's heroics pulled out the win.
The next home game for Endicott comes on Saturday, Nov. 13, against another of the league's top teams, Bryant College, at the Pingree School in Hamilton. Game time is 7 p.m.
