Nov. 5, 2004
The 2004-05 edition of the Endicott College hockey team served notice Friday night (Nov. 5) that it would be a force to be reckoned with in the New England College Hockey Association with a convincing 4-1 win over perennial powerhouse MIT at the Engineers home rink in Cambridge. The victory gave the Gulls a small measure of redemption against the team that unceremoniously bounced them from last year's playoffs, and ran Endicott's early season record to a sparkling 5-0 mark.
The first seven minutes resembled a heavyweight bout between two fighters feeling each other out. Endicott struck first with a power play tally, when assistant captain Joe Dudek found himself alone in front with the puck and buried it into the MIT net. Dudek's good fortune resulted from a nice play at the left point by Scott Vaughan, who took a pass from captain Adam Partaledis and cracked a shot on goal. The puck glanced off an MIT defender and fortuitously to Dudek, who converted for a 1-0 lead at the 8:18 mark. Junior goaltender Jeff Pardue made the lead stand up with several point-blank stops during the second half to the opening stanza.
Pardue picked right back up where he left off to open the second period. With five minutes gone, he made huge stops on an MIT wraparound bid and a 2-on-1 MIT break that had the goalie dead to rights. The second save led directly to an Endicott counterattack, which ended with the Gulls second goal of the game. Mark Vaughan broke into the MIT zone, but got tied up trying to slice into the slot. Freshman Chris Garofalo picked up the loose puck and fired it on net. MIT goalie Tom Hopkins made the initial stop, but Garofalo's classmate D'arcy Wiart, slammed home the rebound.
The Engineers ruined Pardue's shut-out bid with nine minutes gone in the second period. Just as Gulls defenseman Mike Ripley was returning to the ice after a high-sticking penalty, MIT's Nick Fahey floated a shot on net that got deflected, but teammate Tim Studley got to the fluttering puck first and snapped off a quick shot that beat Pardue to the blocker side. Less than a minute later, the Gulls regained their two-goal margin on Wiart's second goal of the evening. Assistant captain Derek Gagnon made a heads-up play at the right point to pinch along the boards, keeping the puck in the MIT zone. Garofalo gathered the biscuit in the right corner, and fired a pass across the crease that Wiart, alertly driving to the net, tipped in for a 3-1 Endicott lead. With a minute left in the period, Mark Vaughan added a second insurance marker, with Wiart getting the assist to cap a three-point night.
The third period featured constant end-to-end action, as the Engineers pressed to get back in the game. Pardue stood tall, however, and the closest MIT got was a shot from the left point through a maze of players that clanged off the left post. The game ended without any more scoring, but the 4-1 final gave the young Gulls plenty of reasons to celebrate.
