BEVERLY, Mass. — The Endicott men's ice hockey team defeated Salve Regina, 2-1, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Championship on Saturday evening at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.
Endicott captured its fourth CCC Championship in program history, the most of any team in the league's eight-year existence on the men's ice hockey side (2016-17, 2019-20, 2022-23, 2023-24). The Gulls also are the first program in CCC men's ice hockey history to win back-to-back championships.
Andrew Kurapov (Corvallis, Ore.) potted the game-winner with 57 seconds remaining in the second period on a one-timer just above the right faceoff circle.
Jackson Sterrett (Hendersonville, Tenn.) fed a wide-open Kurapov with the primary helper after Zach Mazur (Lancaster, N.Y.) won a puck battle along the right sideboards.
In the first period, Cass Bowes (Sturgeon County, Alberta) put the Gulls ahead 1-0 at the 5:49 mark when he roofed a wrist shot high glove side on a penalty shot.
Atticus Kelly (St. Paul, Minn.) stopped 32 shots — including a period-high 11 in the final stanza — to improve to 9-3-3 on the season.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott leads the all-time series 12-9-1 (2-2 playoffs).
- The Gulls avenged a 2015-16 ECAC Northeast Championship home loss (4-0) with today's victory.
- Kurapov netted his 11th career game-winning goal (most in program history).
- Endicott won the last playoff meeting between the two teams in the 2022-23 CCC Semifinals, 5-4, at home on 2/25/23.
- Bowes has scored five goals in two career playoff games against the Seahawks.
- The Gulls lead UNE (2 titles, 21-22, 18-19) and Nichols (1 championship, 17-18) for the most championships in league history.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (17-5-5) has earned the conference's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. The Gulls will find out their next opponent on Monday, March 4 at 10 AM, via the NCAA Selection Show.
Salve Regina (17-9-2) will await the announcement of a potential at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament on Monday morning.
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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)
