Dec. 6, 2005
Having a great season so far, junior Ben Dodge showed his old team what they lost in a 12-3 win Monday night. Dodge transferred to Endicott College from Bridgewater State College this semester and after impressing his former fans with a hat trick, the Bears are surely missing the forward while the Gulls are enjoying their new weapon. Dodge only led his team though, as the rest of the flock scored 9 more goals and allowed Bridgewater only 3.
The beginning of the game, though, looked like the Gulls were in for a hard fought close game. Having trouble with the basics, Endicott came out sluggish and unprepared with sloppy play. The Bears, on the other hand, came out flying. All over the Gulls, the Bears looked like the better team during the opening minutes.
But after settling down, Endicott used the remainder of the first period to net 5 goals and return to the style of play that lifted the Gulls to a win over Bridgewater in their earlier meeting this season. Sophomore Brian Sullivan got the Gulls on the scoreboard first by scoring off a great feed from power-forward Mike Manfredi. Taking advantage of the new found momentum, Endicott scored again only 40 seconds later. Sophomore Bryan Caccamo scored on a rebound off a Kenny Dargon shot, making the score 2-0.
The next goal was certainly a treat to watch. Penalty shots are few and rare in today's hockey, but freshman Greg Dorman single handedly created one through his hard work and hustle. Showing off both his defensive and offensive skills on the play, Dorman intercepted a pass in the Gulls' zone, immediately turned on the jets and used his speed to gain a breakaway. As Dorman went to make his move on the Bear goalie, he was tripped from behind and the lone referee for the game signaled to center ice. As Dorman came down on the penalty shot, the Bridgewater goalie came way out, almost forcing the oncoming forward to bust a move. But Dorman refused, beating the goaltender's blocker with his shot, roofing the puck and hitting the water bottle.
Endicott's fourth goal of the game was Dodge's first. Standing in the corner with the puck, assistant captain Joe Dudek gave the impression that he was going send a pass to the front of the net, the graduate student surprised the attacking defender with a move. Pushing the puck past the defenseman and sidestepping past him, Dudek got to the puck and managed to pass the puck just before getting hit by a second defender. The pass found Dodge in front of the net and the former Bear hit his mark.
The final goal of the first period was scored in a manner almost as rare as the penalty shot: a 4-on-0 fast break. The result was another Dodge goal and assists by Mike Feeheley and Brendan Mack.
The second period belonged to Bridgewater despite Endicott scoring first. Freshman Chris Linnehan let go of a blistering shot, both hard and accurate, that nailed the top right corner with the assist going to senior Mark Vaughan and sophomore Mike Ripley. The next three goals belonged to the Bridgewater, bringing the Bears back into contention with a 7-3 score.
With Bridgewater back in the game, Endicott got back on track and returned to their usual dominant play, not allowing anymore Bear goals while adding a few more to their tally. Sophomore defenseman Mike Ripley used both his defensive and offensive skill for his goal, keeping the puck in the Bear zone at the blue line and walking to the front of the net where he beat the keeper with an accurate shot to the blocker side.
If the penalty shot and 4-on-0 were works of art, Endicott's next goal was a masterpiece. The play began with Linnehan getting the puck to senior captain Adam Partaledis, who made a good move to beat a Bridgewater defenseman and this is where it really gets good. With sophomore phenom Chris Garofalo breaking towards the opposite post, the play turned into a 2-on-0 involving Endicott's two most lethal weapons. Partaledis made a pass to Garofalo that left the goalie helplessly trying to dive across the crease in hopes of a save; however, the clever Garofalo took the play one step further by immediately passing the puck back to Partaledis, still breaking to the net. The Endicott captain scored on the open net to keep his season long point streak alive; a streak that includes a goal in every game but one.
The Gulls' 10th goal of the game took only seconds to take place as Dudek won a clean face-off to Ripley, with the accuracy of a pass, who let go of another deadly accurate shot from the point. Dodge finished his hat trick with the next goal as he scored on another open net, this time with the cross-crease pass coming from freshman forward Tyler Reeves. At this point, Dodge's old fans honored him by throwing their hats onto the ice; however, getting the hats back into the stands was a little more difficult, and comical, as the referee threw the tossed the hats towards the fans only to have the protective netting around the rink throw the hats right back in his face.
The final goal of the game gave Dudek his third assist to complete the play-maker after making another great pass from the corner to the front of the net. The recipient was freshman Rob Fruggiero, who made a slick little move on the Bear keeper.
The final score was 12-3 with the Blue-and-Green victorious. Senior goalie Jeff Pardue played spectacular in net, getting roughed up at one point and having his helmet completely knocked off. Despite the shaky start to the game, the Gulls settled down and got to business, led by Dodge's 3 goal and Dudek's 3 assist performances.
Endicott's next game is at WPI on Wednesday night, November 16th at 8:10.
