BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's ice hockey team held off a spirited comeback effort from No. 11/15 nationally ranked Neumann University on Saturday afternoon to claim a 4-3 win in game one of the inaugural Endicott Holiday Invitational at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
Endicott (9-2-2) will now take on the winner of Tufts University and Plymouth State University in the championship round of the invitational tomorrow at 3:30 PM, while Neumann (10-4-1) will face off against the losing team of today's game two matchup at 12 PM.
The Gulls jumped out to a quick 4-1 advantage in the contest receiving goals from Connor Costello (Nottingham, N.H.) and Thomas Daniels (St. Louis, Mo.) just 5:03 in the first before Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) scored twice less than five minutes into the second to account for Endicott's scoring.
Shayne Morrissey (St. John's, Newfoundland) and Shane Topf (Eagle River, Alaska) made it 4-3 with goals at 16:39 and 17:14 of the second, respectively, but Endicott goaltender Kevin Aldridge (Birmingham, Mich.) thwarted the comeback bid by the Knights late in the third with a beautiful post-to-post save on a one-timer by Johannes Sallila (Tampere, Finland) from the right face-off circle with less than a minute to play for the eventual win.
Jory Mullin (Cartwright, Manitoba) had Neumann's only other goal at 19:35 of the first, his team-leading 17th of the season.
Aldridge finished the contest with 42 saves in the victory (8-2-2), while Anthony Pupplo (Shirley, N.Y.) stopped 18 shots and did not give up a goal in 34:10 of action off the bench. Neumann starter Matt Gibney (Watrous, Saskatchewan) recorded 12 saves in the loss (4-4-1).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott is 2-0-1 against nationally ranked teams in program history.
- The Gulls also extended their program record winning streak to nine straight today.
- Jack Musil (Hull, England) won a game-high 13 faceoffs.
- Endicott held Neumman to a 1-of-6 on power play opportunities.
- Costello picked up a career-high three points in the win (1g, 2a).
FOR THE FOES
- The Knights suffered their first loss since November 12, 2016 against No. 4/5 Hobart College by an 8-5 score.
- Prior to that loss, Neumann posted a record of 7-0-1 up until today.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (9-2-2) will now take on the winner of Tufts University and Plymouth State University in the championship round of the invitational tomorrow at 3:30 PM, while Neumann (10-4-1) will face off against the losing team of today's game two matchup at 12 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
