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Club Hockey Opens Season with Road Victory

Club Hockey Opens Season with Road Victory
WORCESTER, Mass. – The Endicott club hockey team got their 2011 campaign started with a resounding 8-2 victory over Holy Cross in a Northeast Collegiate Hockey Association (NECHA) contest.

Robert DiNicola (Wolcott, Conn.) scored two goals in the first period and the Gulls took a 4-0 lead into the locker room. After DiNicola opened the scoring, Tad Gold (Vineyard Haven, Mass.) netted less than thirty seconds later to double Endicott’s advantage. Sophomore Clark Dumart (Shrewsbury, Mass.) scored just two minutes later and DiNicola completed his double just eight minutes into the period.

After Holy Cross grabbed a goal back, Endicott continued to add to their advantage. Freshman Eddie Esty (Beverly, Mass.) scored a goal in each of the last two periods and also added an assist. Chris Murphy (Holden, Mass.) had a goal and an assist himself, while Ryan Pratt (Waltham, Mass.) and Garrett Moore (Sudbury, Mass.) each had two helpers.

Senior Mark Airoldi (Kennebunk, Maine) played the entire game in net for the Gulls, making 19 saves while allowing just two goals.

The Gulls currently have a 1-2 record after falling 6-3 to Northeastern and 7-1 to Marist College. In Saturday’s loss against Northeastern, the Huskies scored the first four goals before Murphy and Dumart made it 4-2, the closest Endicott would get. Pratt added a goal late in the game, but the Huskies had gotten six goals by Airoldi on 46 shots on goal.

Sunday, Marist also went up 4-0 and Murphy again provided the marker for the Gulls. Murphy scored at 11:31 of the second period, on an assist from Cameron MacLeod (Hampton Falls, N.H.) Airoldi made 21 stops through two and a half periods, while Blaine Thibodeau (Peabody, Mass.) allowed two goals and made three saves in the final twelve minutes.

The club hockey team has two games coming up this weekend, beginning Friday when they travel to UConn. The Gulls will be back in Beverly Saturday to play St. Anselm at 7:30 pm.