Dec. 15, 2006
HAMILTON, MA - Endicott's Drew Moore (Newton, NJ/Pope John) converted on two slick feeds from Mike Manfredi (Burlington, MA/Arlington Catholic), as the Gulls held on for a 3-2 over the Bulldogs of Bryant University on Saturday night in Hamilton, MA.
Endicott and Bryant entered Saturday night tied as the 9th ranked team(s) in the latest Northeast Regional Rankings, and both squads took the first 20 minutes to feel each other out. The Bulldogs, coming off an impressive 5-2 victory over the 5th ranked University of New Hampshire a night before, showed evidence of obvious fatigue in the opening period. The Gulls created several scoring opportunities in the first, only to be turned away by Bryant netminder Joseph Macaurelle (Chelmsford, MA). Not to be outdone, Endicott's Matt Murray (Billerica, MA/Arlington Catholic) stood tall between the pipes, sending both teams into the dressing room tied at zero after one.
The Gulls returned to the ice for the second period with an adjusted game plan. A team that prides themselves on hard work and creating opportunities, the Gulls did just that. Greg Dorman (Merrimack, NH/Merrimack) broke the ice 6:35 into the middle frame as he took a pass from Matt Guidotti (Lebanon, NH/James O'Neil) and let a hard wrist-shot go that beat the Bryant goaltender, putting Endicott up 1-0.
Roughly three minutes later, Endicott got back on the scoreboard. Junior forward Brian Sullivan (Peabody, MA/Bishop Fenwick) dumped the puck deep in the Bryant zone to start the aggressive Endicott fore-check. Hard work down low for Mike Manfredi resulted with the Assistant Captain coming out of a scrum with the loose puck. The senior forward made a quick turn and found a wide open Drew Moore all alone in front of the Bryant net. The freshman received the strong pass and made the opportunity count as he beat Macaurelle low to the blocker side, putting Endicott up 2-0 after two.
Midway through the third period, the Gulls put the game out of reach. Defenseman Brad Butcher (East Orleans, MA/Nauset) threw the puck off the half wall where Manfredi redirected the feed to a sneaky Moore behind the Bryant defense. The freshman forward came in all alone with Macaurelle and beat the netminder on quick deke to the goaltenders left, extending the Gulls lead to three.
Feeling the pressure, Bryant refused to quit. Christopher Hannon (Lincoln, RI) closed the gap to two when he broke through Matt Murray, making the score 3-1. With the Gulls back on their heals, Bryant struck again with just over two minutes remaining in regulation. Corey Everett (Sutton, MA) took a dish from Joseph Oullette (Windham, NH) and found the back of net, pulling the visitors within one. The Bulldogs continued to apply the pressure as they pulled their goaltender, looking for the six-on-four advantage. Backstopped by several key saves by Matt Murray, Endicott would show their resilience as they would bend but not break, holding on for the 3-2 victory.
With the win, the Gulls improve to 8-6-2 overall and 7-3 in the NECHA. Up next for Endicott is a home game against the 5th ranked University of New Hampshire on Saturday, December 16, 2006. Due to scheduling conflicts, the Gulls will host the Wildcats at Salem State College (Salem, MA) with the face-off scheduled for 8:15 PM.
