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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Michael Casey scored with 1:09 left in regulation and then 58 seconds into overtime to lift third-seeded Endicott College past second-seeded University of New England, 4-3, in a semifinal showdown in the 2025 Conference of New England (CNE) Men's Ice Hockey Championship at the Harold Alfond Forum on Saturday night (Mar. 1).

After needing extra time to advance through the opening round, as well, the Gulls (19-7-1) now move on into the league final to face top seed Curry College, which defeated Suffolk University by a 4-2 margin on the other side of the bracket.

The Nor'easters (18-7-1) must now wait for conference tournaments across the country to finish up next weekend before finding out if the year can continue with an at-large berth into the NCAA Championship.

The only goal of the 1st period went to Endicott, late in the frame, off the stick of Domenic Garozzo -- a shot from the slot that changed direction off a defender and bounced five-hole. It was his team-leading 17th score.

However, a pair of tallies by UNE's Juraj Elias in the 2nd flipped the advantage to the home squad (2-1). First (11:39), on the power play, Elias hammered a one-timer from the right dot under the bar, with assists to Drew Olivieri and Dominic Murphy [Watch]. Then, less than three minutes later, Will Spitzer held the left point and pushed it deep for Elias to feed out front for a David Wilcox bid. Gulls goalie Atticus Kelly made the save, but left the rebound for Elias to flip into the open net for his seventh goal of the season [Watch]. Elias has a team-best 11 points since the calendar turned to February (7 games).

Cam Bergeman padded the lead for the Nor'easters 2:13 into the 3rd with his eighth of the year. After Wilcox pinched at the blue line, Tyler Healey settled a bouncing puck in the middle and ushered a backhand through a defender to Bergeman with enough time for the rookie to get it on his forehand and lift it over Kelly [Watch].

But the two-goal cushion only lasted 76 seconds, as Jackson Sterrett got one back for the visitors in transition. After both sides killed off penalties, the Gulls pulled the goalie to gain a skater with 1:33 to go. With an offensive-zone faceoff win by Casey, Garozzo swung it to Primo Self, whose shot from the blue line was saved by left toe of UNE netminder Stefan Carney, but the rebound was sitting there for Casey to poke in the equalizer.

In bonus hockey, following chances both ways, a near miss at the right post by the Nor'easters allowed EC to clear the zone. Sterrett hit the brakes on the half-wall and dumped it deep for Self, who turned it up the boards to Brad Zona at the point. Zona sent a wrist shot towards the target as Casey stepped in the way and redirected it around Carney for the deciding marker.

Seven of the last eight meetings between the institutions -- and now 12 out of 25 in the full series -- have needed more than regulation time. Endicott was playing in its 11th overtime contest of the season, with two of those coming in Biddeford.

For the Gulls in the match, Kelly totaled 28 saves, and Self finished with three assists.

Carney collected 32 stops for the Nor'easters, which included 13 during the opening 20 minutes, and three big ones to keep things scoreless at the time [Watch 7 / 12 / 13].

The two scores for Elias marked the seventh time in UNE program history that a player netted multiple goals in conference postseason action. It was the third two-assist outing of the year by Wilcox, and the helpers by Olivieri and Murphy increased their season totals to a team-leading 24 and 18, respectively. Olivieri now tops the team with 35 total points.

UNE's conversion on the offensive side of special teams kept its season mark above 30 percent and 3rd in Division III, while, with two successful kills (and 0 shots on goal allowed), the PK improved to 2nd in the nation at 88.9 percent.