Dec. 6, 2004
What a difference a month can make. On Nov. 6, the Gulls rallied for a rewarding, last-second tie against a Holy Cross squad that ranks among the elite teams in the East Division of the New England College Hockey Association. On Thursday, Dec. 2, in Worcester, the Crusaders never let Endicott back in the game after jumping out to a 3-0 first period lead before coasting to a 6-2 win, and sending the Gulls to their fourth straight league loss. The Gulls will look to regain the winning form that marked their season-opening, seven-game undefeated streak when they meet the Engineers of MIT this Saturday (Dec. 4) at home.
At the Hart Center on Thursday, Holy Cross grabbed a 1-0 lead less than four minutes into the game. After several big power-play stops by Endicott goalie Jeff Pardue, the Crusaders got on the board when Joe Mantovani was able to tuck home a rebound, finishing a strong play by Rob Clifford. The Crusader senior, breaking wide on the right wing, was able to power past Endicott assistant captain Derek Gagnon and put the put on net. Pardue made the initial stop but wasn't able to cover the puck before Mantovani jammed it in. The junior netminder bounced back with a couple of nice stops in close quarters before HC's Chris Heimers, at the 11:14 mark, split the Endicott defense at his own blueline and outraced Gagnon the length of the ice before slipping the puck past Pardue for a 2-0 Crusader margin.
Endicott nearly got one back a minute later, when freshman Chris Garofalo ripped a snap shot off the crossbar, but the puck sailed harmlessly into the netting behind the HC goal. At the 16-minute mark, HC's Paul Riley got the eventual game-winner when he was able to dig the puck out of a pile of players in front and muscle a backhander up and over a sprawling Pardue. Ten seconds later, Pardue made a sizzling breakaway save to keep Endicott close, though the Gulls headed into intermission down 3-0.
Looking to nail Endicott's coffin early in the second period, Holy Cross continued to press the attack on the power play, and grabbed a 4-0 lead only 20 seconds into the middle stanza. HC's Brendan Webb picked up the puck at the right point, walked it in to the high slot and the slammed a slap shot between the hash marks that beat Pardue low stick side. That goal seemed to shake the Gulls out of their doldrums, and for the next eight minutes they took the game to the Crusaders. The hard work paid off at the 10:41 mark, when Endicott captain Adam Partaledis drove to the net on a point blast by Mike Ripley and jammed the rebound past HC's Peter Bartline to get the Gulls on the board.
Three minutes later, Bartline made a stellar stop on a breakaway bid by Garofalo and Pardue matched the save with a beauty of his own on a cross-ice tip shot. The Crusaders, however, capitalized on another power play opportunity when Jean Paul Lefave took advantage of a sagging Endicott defense and rifled a laser from the high slot off the post and into the net for a 5-1 HC margin with four minutes left in the period. Then Clifford slammed the door shut when he finished off a textbook 3-on-2 Crusader break, roofing a wicked wrist shot from the left face-off dot that caught the right corner over Pardue's glove.
Though some Holy Cross players expected the Gulls to fold in the third, Endicott came out determined to show they wouldn't head home without a fight. Showing heart and grit, the Gulls kept the Crusaders off the scoreboard in the final stanza, thanks to a strong checking game and several point-blank stops by Pardue. At the 17:25 mark, Partaledis notched his second goal of the game when he fought for position in front and tipped a Ripley blast past Bartlime for a power play tally. The HC goaltender, however, shut the door from that point on, making a number of exceptional stops to prevent the Gulls from getting any closer, including a cat-quick glove save on Gagnon that was labeled for the top corner. Not to be outdone, Pardue made a spectacular lunging save to deny Holy Cross on a 3-on-1 break. Overall, the Crusaders out shot the Gulls 48-35, despite spending more time in the penalty box, with 18 minors compared to Endicott's 15.
The Gulls will try to rebound at home on Saturday against a red-hot MIT squad that will be seeking a measure of revenge against Endicott, which thumped the Engineers (4-1) in Cambridge last month. The game will be held at the Pingree School in Hamilton. Game time is 7 p.m.
