Gulls Ease Past Terriers, Struggle with Wildcats In Weekend Split

HAMILTON, Mass. – The Endicott men's club ice hockey team split this weekend's conference contests as they defeated Boston University 10-4 and fell to UNH 3-0. 13 Gulls tallied points in the large victory over the Terriers while three recorded four points, led by senior Cameron MacLeod (Hampton Falls, N.H.) who scored three goals and one assist. Endicott moves to 9-8, (6-5 Patriot East) as they look to the last games before the tournament next weekend.

In game one against BU the Blue and Green was a scoring machine that started in the first period as they outscored the Terriers 4-1. The line of seniors Ryan Pratt (Waltham, Mass.), Clark Dumart (Shrewsbury, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Peabody (Mendon, Mass.) drew first as they went in on the Terriers and made a quick goal in the opening minutes as Peabody was able to slip the puck past senior goaltender Eric Raiche (Dover, N.H.). At the 13:17 mark it was MacLeod's turn to get on the board after he finished a play by Pratt and junior Dana Boudreau (Plymouth, Mass.) to take the 2-0 lead.

With less than 10 minutes remaining in the first period the Gulls looked to senior Chris Murphy (Holden, Mass.) and MacLeod to post two more goals to end the first period with a 4-1 lead. The Terriers would get the best of freshman goaltender Nick Russo (Waltham, Mass.) to nab a quick goal before the first intermission.

To start off the second period BU took to the scoreboard first as they made it a two goal game after sophomore Mike Gates (East Amherst, N.Y.) scored 40 seconds into the period. The Gulls answered back quickly however, as Murphy earned his second goal of the game after working hard on the line with Butler and newly added rookie Conor House-Myers (Goffstown, N.H.) as they added the assists.

 At 13:05 Butler racked up his third point and first goal of the night after pushing hard during a power play in the Terriers favor to nab a shorthanded goal to take the 6-2 lead. That would not be the last for Butler as he recorded a second goal back to back with help from House-Myers and Murphy to take a five goal lead.

To end the second period junior Ed Estey (Beverly, Mass.) recorded his only point of the game on a power play with strong efforts to find the back of the net with help from MacLeod and junior Jake Rand (Winthrop, Mass.) to take the 8-2 lead and shut out BU in the entire second period.

The third period was more of a battle as each side tabbed two goals apiece. BU started the scoring at 18:43 when sophomore Matt Fineberg (Bradenton, Fla.) was able to sneak the puck past Russo to add a third goal to the scoreboard for the Terriers. The Gulls then went on to score two back to back goals by Dumart and MacLeod to wrap up his hat-trick. Gates was able to add another tally for BU but it was all over as Endicott came away with the impressive 10-4 victory.

The next day the Blue and Green traveled to the University of New Hampshire for a tough conference matchup. The Gulls last saw the Wildcats last in October where they were victorious with a 4-1 final. Sunday however was a different story as the Wildcats were able to blank the Gulls, which was the first game all season where Endicott did not tally a single point as they fell 3-0.

The Gulls will take the ice next on February 7^th at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to Boston University. The following day on the 8^th Endicott will host Roger Williams at 7:30 p.m. for their final regular season game.