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BIDDEFORD, Maine -- Third-period goals by
Daniel Johnson and
Brayden Cook, and 14 saves down the stretch from
Harrison Chesney, were enough to give No.10 University of New England a 3-2 Conference of New England (CNE) triumph over No.6 Endicott College in men's ice hockey action Saturday night (Nov. 7) at the Harold Alfond Forum.
One night after dropping an overtime decision on the road, the Nor'easters (1-2, 1-1 CNE) closed the opening series of league play with four of the six points against the Gulls (2-1, 1-1).
"This was a big, gritty win for us, as we've had a really tough schedule at the start and have lost in overtime to a couple of top 10 teams," noted UNE head coach Kevin Swallow. "We have been playing good hockey but just not getting the results. Ultimately, if we want to be considered one of the best programs in the country, we need to beat some of them, and we did that tonight. Endicott is a very good team with a lot of depth in every area. It was a huge step forward for us to finish it in regulation and win the weekend to get those points for the standings."
Things were knotted at 1-1 in the 1st period, and stayed that way through 40 minutes, largely due to a friendly left pipe on one EC shot and then a lunging toe-save moments later by Chesney
[Watch].
Johnson provided the go-ahead score about five minutes into the final frame, receiving a pass up the wall from
Aidan Curran and waiting at the left point for a screen to develop before banking a wrister off the back of a Gull into the far side of the net
[Watch].
Another stop from Chesney seconds later
[Watch], and then a penalty kill of three more saves, plus blocked shots from Johnson and Cook, held the lead for the hosts. UNE went on its fourth advantage with just under eight minutes remaining and Cook made it count for the 3-1 cushion. With extended possession in the zone,
Drew Olivieri fed
Ronnie Hill on the left wing for a one-timer that was saved, but the rebound hopped just far enough away from EC netminder Peter Sterling for Cook to poke it into the mostly empty net
[Watch]. Hill assisted on both goals in the 3rd.
Endicott did get one back with 4:58 on the clock, off the stick of Noah Gibbs, and then pulled Sterling in the midst of a power play with two and change to go. The numbers advantage had sustained zone pressure, but chances were hard to come by against the Nor'easter defense. There was one last-gasp opportunity at the right post, however Chesney slid across to stuff it with the pad
[Watch].
Chesney wound up with 31 stops, while Sterling had 22 for the visitors.
Anthony Cafarelli opened the scoring for EC with 4:21 left in the 1st stanza, but UNE notched its first power play goal of the evening 1:34 later to even things up. Olivieri found a soft spot in the slot and got a pass from
Cam Bergeman to deposit his third goal of the season
[Watch]; Cook also assisted on the play.
The Nor'easters will continue their CNE schedule on Friday (7 p.m.) when Roger Williams University visits Biddeford.
