BEVERLY, Mass. — The second-seeded Endicott men's ice hockey team defeated sixth-seeded Wentworth, 2-0, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship on Saturday evening at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
With the win, the No. 12 nationally ranked Gulls (22-5-0) captured their second CCC Championship in program history (2016-17, 2019-20) and have earned the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. Endicott will find out its first round opponent on Monday, March 9 via the NCAA Selection Show at 10:30 AM.
Meanwhile, Wentworth sees its cinderella 2019-20 season come to a close at 9-16-3 overall. The Leopards defeated No. 3 Curry and No. 1 University of New England by identical 2-1 scores to advance to the CCC Championship. Wentworth is the first-ever program to advance to the CCC Championship as the No. 6 seed.
Deadlocked 0-0 late in the third period, Eric Johansson (Malmo, Sweden) finally broke open the scoring in the contest for the Gulls when he buried a rebound from the right post to push Endicott ahead 1-0 at the 12:40 mark. Zach Mazur (Lancaster, N.Y.) initiated the tally with a wrist shot from the high slot that was turned away by Wentworth goaltender Connor Carbo (Berlin, Vt.), who made a point-blank highlight reel save before Johansson cleaned it up.
The Gulls then added the insurance goal with 12 seconds to play as Jake Simons (Coral Springs, Fla.) deposited a feed from close range after receiving a pass via James Winkler (York, Maine) near the right boards.
In goal, Endicott netminder Conor O'Brien (Pinellas Park, Fla.) stopped 31 shots to lock up his fourth shutout of the season and improve his record to 21-4-0 overall (32-12-2 career, five career shutouts).
On the other end, Carbo was equally impressive all game as the freshman netminder made 47 saves in the loss (4-6-1).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott improved to 12-2-0 all-time against Wentworth.
- The Gulls have never lost in the CCC Championship game.
- Endicott is the first two-time champion in CCC men's ice hockey history.
- Wentworth fell to 6-6 overall in conference championship games in its program history.
- Endicott is 8-0-0 all-time versus Wentworth at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
- The Gulls picked up its fifth victory of the season against Wentworth today (1/4/2020, W, 4-2 | 2/14/2020, W, 6-2 | 2/15/2020, W, 7-1 | 3/7/2020, W, 2-0).
- Endicott's 22 wins this season are two shy of tying the program record of 24 set in 2016-17 (24-4-2).
- The Gulls extended their winning streak to 15 straight games with today's victory.
- Endicott is 11-3-0 at home this season.
- This is the first time in CCC men's ice hockey history that a No. 2 seed and a No. 6 seed competed for the league crown. Previous matchups have included a 1/5 seed (2016-17), a 3/5 seed (2017-18), and a 1/3 seed (2018-19).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (22-5-0) has earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament and will find out its first round opponent on Monday, March 9 via the NCAA Selection Show at 10:30 AM. Wentworth sees its 2019-20 season come to a close at 9-16-3 overall.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
- PT -
