Eddie O'Reilly (Beverly, MA/Beverly) got the Gulls (0-2) rolling quickly, scoring 19 seconds into the first. Josh Gilbert (Simsbury, CT/Simsbury) doubled the lead on a feed from Kevin Lally (Derry, NH/Pinkerton) with 11:34 remaining in the first. Lally ended with three helpers on the afternoon.
A rocket goal on the power play from Mike Hines (Newburyport, MA/St. John's Prep) at the 6:35 mark of the first made it 2-1 Endicott but Burt Fahy (Needham, MA/Needham) spotted the Gulls another two-goal cushion at the midway point of the first quarter.
The Cardinals took control of the game, storming back with 10 unanswered goals to close out the first half. Wesleyan ended the first quarter with consecutive tallies by Alex Kaufman (Lake Oswego, OR/Oregon Episcopal), Peter Harris (Dover, MA/Noble & Greenough) and Nate Byer (Carlisle, MA/Noble & Greenough), giving the visitors a 4-3 advantage after one.
The visitors opened the second quarter in the same way it closed the first. Hines beat goaltender Ryan Walsh (Weymouth, MA/Weymouth) with 11 minutes remaining and Chris Jasinski (Wilton, CT/Wilton) put the Cardinals up 6-3. Grayson Conners (Princeton Junction, NJ/Peddie School), Glen Adams (Norwalk, CT/Norwalk), Dan Latzman (Port Washington, NY/Schreiber), Byer and Adams rounded out the first half scoring.
Parker Sowles (Cumberland, ME/Kents Hill) stopped the Wesleyan rally and Dan Ryan (Billerica, MA/Billerica), who finished with a hat trick, ripped back-to-back scores to cut the Wesleyan lead to 12-6. Ben-Eliyahu stemmed the EC rally and Conners and Russell Follansbee (Deerfield, MA/Deerfield Academy) gave the Cardinals a 15-6 cushion with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.
Conners netted four goals for Wesleyan, which also received three goals from Jason Ben-Eliyahu (East Setauket, NY/Ward Melville). However, Walsh turned away 15 shots in the Endicott goal.
Endicott will host Salve Regina in a Commonwealth Coast Conference game next Saturday at 4:00 PM while the Cardinals visit Babson Monday (3:00 PM).
