Oct. 23, 2006
Saturday's game against the reputable Montclair State Red Hawks was a promising match-up for the 1-1-1 Gulls. The first period was a struggle for the Gulls going down 2-0. The first Montclair goal came just about half way through the first period when a bullet of a shot from the point slipped past junior goalie Josh Provost, and the Gulls were down 1-0. The rest of the period, the Gulls seemed to pick up the intensity a bit and fought back but it wasn't enough for a goal, but a few missed opportunities. Their missed opportunities turned on them as Montclair popped in another goal in front of the net with only 1:30 remaining in the period. Down 2-0, the Gulls needed to come back in the 2nd period with a chip on their shoulder, and they did exactly that.
With much intensity, the Gulls came out flying in the 2nd period. Unfortunately, Montclair squeezed another shot from the point past Provost, to go up 3-0. Once again, penalties were the key factor in the game, the Gulls taking 8 penalties total. At this point you would expect the spirit of the Gulls to be a bit shaken up, but the freshman speedster Drew Moore had a beautiful tip in front of the net from a Bryan Caccamo shot for the first tally for the Gulls. Seconds later Montclair answered back with another goal to make the score 4-1. Exactly one minute later, junior forward Chris Garofalo put one past the Montclair goalie in style, to close the lead to 4-2. The Garofalo goal with 5 minutes remaining in the 2nd period was the cap of an intense style of play that the Gulls displayed in the 2nd period. Going into the 3rd period was going to be an uphill battle that the Gulls were more than welcome to fight.
Opening the 3rd period Montclair responded quickly with two goals as the Gulls went down 6-2. Not willing to go down without a challenge, Chris Garofalo beat the Montclair goalie with 3:42 remaining in the game. Once again closing the gap to 6-3. The Gulls did nothing but fight from here, popping in one more to cap off the game. Brian Sullivan made a nice individual play in front of the net to put the puck past a scrambling Montclair goalie to give the Gulls the last goal of the game, with a final score of 6-4. Although a heart-breaking loss, it was a hard fought battle by the Gulls who look to rebound this Wednesday night at 8:00pm against Bridgewater State.
