Statistics

BEVERLY, Mass. -- Ryan Bloom scored a pair inside the last seven minutes of regulation to complete a three-goal rally as No.10 University of New England wrapped up the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) regular-season with a 4-4 overtime tie at No.8/9 Endicott College on Saturday night (Feb. 10) at Raymond J. Bourque Arena.

The Nor'easters trailed at 4-1 for almost 14 minutes before Liam Neuman notched a short-handed bid with 7:47 gone in the 3rd period. Bloom then pulled the visitors even with goals at 13:41 and 15:20.

UNE played nearly the entire extra frame against an Endicott power-play, but the Gulls could not regain the advantage.

The outcome sets EC as the second seed and the Nor'easters third for the upcoming CCC Championship, which begins on February 17 [Interactive Bracket].

UNE (18-4-3, 11-4-3 CCC) takes the season series against Endicott (17-5-3, 13-4-1 CCC), and is now 4-0-1 against ranked opponents this year. During the home-and-home weekend, the nation's top offensive squads combined for 11 of 14 goals scored with special teams play (8 power-play, 3 short-handed).

In addition to boasting the best extra-skater group in Division III, Big Blue's recent success scoring while killing off penalties now has the Nor'easters tied for the most short-handed goals in the country (9).

Ross Olsson paced the Gulls with a hat trick, which included putting the hosts up 1-0 and 2-1 in the 1st stanza, sandwiching a goal by UNE's Derek Mecrones. Max Rasberg had the first of his two assists on the score.

Jason Kalinowski and Olsson stretched the cushion to three (4-1) in the 2nd period, while Logan Day upped his assist total to four.

In a game littered with power-plays (20), both goalies kept busy throughout the evening -- Tate Sproxton tallied 45 saves for the Nor'easters, and EC's Mark Specia turned away 32 shots.

Up next for UNE is a date with sixth-seed Wentworth Institute of Technology on Saturday (7 p.m.) in Biddeford. A total of 21 goals were scored during the two meetings between the teams this season; the Nor'easters never trailed on the way to securing results of 6-4 and 6-5.

(Updated 2/11/18 7:00 pm)