BIDDEFORD, Maine — The Endicott men's ice hockey team fell to the University of New England (UNE), 3-2 (OT), in a back-and-forth Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) clash on Friday night at the Harold Alford Forum.
UNE's Garrett Devine (Windsor, Colo.) scored the game-winning tally 1:08 into the extra session to earn the extra point for the hosts.
Prior to overtime, Collin Kleiser (Churchville, Pa.) deadlocked the game at 1-1 just 44 seconds into the middle frame with a wrist shot off helpers from Cam Speck (Burnt Hills, N.Y.) and Andrew Kurapov (Corvallis, Ore.).
Kleiser struck again later in the period with a bullet just inside the blue line to give the Blue and Green their first lead of the matchup, 2-1, with 12:41 to play.
Near the end of the second period, Ryan Kuzmich (Norton, Mass) leveled the game at 2-2 for UNE at the 18:10 mark before the Nor'easters eventually claimed the OT victory.
In goal, Atticus Kelly (St. Paul, Minn) denied 33 shots in the setback to fall to 6-3-3 on the 2023-24 campaign (18-3-5 career).
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- UNE leads the all-time series, 9-7-5.
- Both teams are receiving votes in the latest USCHO Poll (UNE - 23 | Endicott - 10).
- Kleiser recorded his first multi-goal game of his young career.
- Kurapov registered his third straight game with a point.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (13-5-5, 10-3-3 CCC) hosts Suffolk tomorrow at 3:00 PM. Tomorrow's contest will serve as Senior Day for the Gulls. UNE (15-5-3, 9-4-3 CCC) visits Nichols tomorrow at 4:40 PM.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
