Dec. 6, 2005
Endicott knew they were in for a close game against Worcester Polytechnic Institute this past Wednesday night.
The first goal of the game was kind of a fluke as a result of a referee getting in the way of the puck, giving senior captain Adam Partaledis the opportunity to knock it up the boards to sophomore Chris Garofalo at the WPI blue line. The Gull forward let go of a shot only to have it saved, but the persistent Garofalo grabbed the rebound and fired a second shot that hit the post. In all this action, the WPI goalie lost sight of the puck, even though it was sitting underneath him right between his legs. Freshman Chris Linnehan punched in the loose puck for the 1-0 lead.
Impressed by the garbage goal, Endicott's second goal was also a fluke. This time freshman defenseman Anthony Chedid let go of a hard enough shot from the top of the circle to make the pressuring WPI player to try and get out of the way. In trying to lift his leg up out of path of the puck, the black biscuit hit his skate and deflected into the net. Assistant captain Joe Dudek and freshman Greg Dorman assisted on the play while junior Ben Dodge set a vital block for Chedid, giving him enough time for the shot.
At this point in the game, WPI proceeded to take costly penalties that allowed Endicott's power play to develop and deliver. Endicott's first power play goal began to develop as soon as the puck was dropped. Off the face-off, the Gulls instantly transitioned into a charge; once in the WPI zone, freshman Rob Fruggiero sent a hard pass to Dudek who tipped the puck into the open net behind the goalie. The next power play goal was produced in the opposite manner: a slow, patient offensive, in large part settled-down by junior Mike Manfredi. After doing a lap around the WPI zone, making sure not to rush a pass, Manfredi finally found an acceptable passing lane to defenseman Jeff Lallier, who let go of a well timed shot from the point. Partaledis, always willing to fight a physical battle in front of the net, took the rebound and swung around the back of the net to beat the WPI goalie on the rap-around.
The Gulls scored once more in the opening period when junior Ben Dodge made a fantastic play to hustle on the back check and break up a WPI attack. Not only did Dodge break up the play, though, in the same motion he stole the puck and got it to Dudek. In a controversial "drop-pass" (potentially a simple case of loosing control), the puck ended up on the stick of Dorman who shot and scored.
The first shift in the second period was a showcase of Partaledis' capabilities, complete with a goal (waved off though without going upstairs for the review), solid back checking (finished with a devastating hit), and a penalty (although rather questionable). But the Endicott penalty kill held off WPI. Carrying this momentum, the Gulls' executed a textbook play to perfection: a point-to-point pass followed by a pass, disguised as a shot, to an open Garofalo sitting at the far post. Lallier and sophomore Mike Ripley were the defensemen assisting on the play.
With a 6-0 lead under their belt, the Gulls' began to fall asleep allowing WPI to score 3 unanswered goals. Reawakened by the WPI surge, Endicott fired back with 2 goals of their own to tie the second period scoring at 3 a piece and the overall score at 8-3. Endicott's goals were quite amazing though. The seventh Gull goal took only seconds to take place as Fruggiero won the face-off in the WPI zone in a manner that sent the puck towards the far side of the net where Brian Sullivan instinctively met it and put the biscuit in the basket. The next goal saw Dudek score a rather acrobatic goal by spinning to his left while still sending a shot towards the net using his backhand (to his right), ultimately spinning away from the puck but still getting enough on it to put it past the WPI goalie. Dorman also got his second assist on the play.
Compared to the first two periods, the third was much less eventful with only two goals, both Endicott's. Partaledis scored the first goal of the period on a hard one-timer from Linnehan across the ice, with an assist also going to Garofalo. The last goal of the game was scored in the final minute of the game on a two-man power play. Endicott really exhibited what their power play is capable of on the play, displaying great puck movement as every player on the ice touched it before Manfredi tipped in a Scott Vaughn shot from the point. While the score sheet may have only given assists to Vaughn and freshman Brad Butcher, Partaledis and Garofalo also deserved assists on the play.
In the end the score sheet was nearly filled to capacity: Dudek and Garofalo each had 4 points while Partaledis and Dorman were both one behind with 3, four players accounted for 2 points a piece, and six other Gulls' had 1 point.
The Gulls' will be traveling down to New Jersey this upcoming weekend for a 2 night, 2 game stay in "The Garden State." Endicott will face off against William Patterson and \#6 ranked Montclair State.
