Sept. 23, 2008

HAMILTON, Mass. - The Endicott College ice hockey team opened its season with a dominating, 12-3, win over the Boston Junior Blackhawks on Saturday evening in Hamilton, Mass. The Gulls' Chris Linnehan (East Longmeadow, Mass.) and Mark Gaudreau (Pittsfield, Vt.) each notched three goals in the blowout victory.

Linnehan found the back of the net just 5:49 into the game as he took a feed from junior Brennan Hill (Falmouth, Mass.) and beat goalkeeper Ian Burns for the quick 1-0 lead. Surprisingly, that would be the only goal of the period as the Gulls took a 1-0 lead into the intermission.

Endicott broke it open in the second as Mike Vacca (North Reading, Mass.), Greg Dorman (Merrimack, N.H.) and Mark Gaudreau scored three straight unanswered tallies. The visitor's finally got on the board as Gerald Harrington broke through on Endicott's goalie Matt Murray (Billerica, Mass.) off assists from Ryan Ruddock and Sandy Mullis, however the Gulls countered right back with two more strikes before the end of the period.

Linnehan completed the hat trick as he scored at 18:16 and 15:23 of the third period. Christopher Delande (Rowley, Mass.) sandwiched a goal in between the Linnehan tallies, notching the first of his collegiate career at 17:42 off an assist from Nick Colby (Salisbury, Mass.). Gaudreau also found the back of the net twice in the third to finish off the hat trick bid. In all, Endicott had eight different goal scorers and 11 players notch at least one point in the win.

Saturday's game featured an unbelievable 34 assessed penalties for a combined 151 minutes. Endicott goalie Matt Murray made 22 saves in the win while his counterpart Ian Burns stopped 39 of the Gulls' 51 shots for the Blackhawks.

Endicott returns to action on Saturday, October 4th as it hosts Daniel Webster College at 7:40 p.m. The Boston Junior Blackhawks return to International Junior Hockey League play on the same day against the Worcester Wildcats at 7:10 p.m. at the Kasabuski Arena.