Box Score WENHAM, Mass.—Three Endicott players scored at least three goals, as the Gulls remained undefeated in the Commonwealth Coast Conference with a 23-11 win over the host Fighting Scots. Nick Pinciaro (Beverly, Mass.) scored five goals and added an assist to lead all scorers, while
Jake Martin (Watertown, Conn.) led the Scots with a hat-trick.
Eighth-ranked Endicott rebounded from a tough loss on Tuesday and improved to 11-3 overall with a 6-0 record in the CCC. Gordon falls to 5-9 overall and 2-4 in the conference with two big games on the horizon.
The Gulls scored the first six goals of the game, including four within a minute's time just a few moments into the opening quarter. Endicott's passing game set up open looks for the conference's leading offense all night, starting with Will Jennings' (Danvers, Mass.) goal in the fourth minute. Mitchell Tapley (Falmouth, Maine) added an unassisted score 30 seconds later before Pinciaro put home a bang-bang play off the face-off win by Tommy Hughes (Coram, N.Y.). Kyle Weber (West Hartford, Conn.) scored with 11:02 remaining in the first quarter to finish off a stretch of four goals in 53 seconds.
Jonathan Morgan (Ridge, N.Y.) and Harrison Cotter (Lordship, Conn.) scored at the tail end of the run to give Endicott a 6-0 lead.
Jordan Heckelmann (Colorado Springs, Colo.) finally broke Gordon's drought in the ninth minute on a nice assist from Ryan Utz (Rochester, N.Y.) However, Endicott scored the next two goals to stretch their lead to seven with four minutes to play in the premiere. Joshua Tordik (Sayville, N.Y.) finished off a Cotter pass before Pinciar put home his second of the game from Tapley.
Michael Utz (Rochester, N.Y.) countered with an unassisted score, but Cotter got loose on a transition play and scored with seven seconds left to help Endicott to a 9-2 lead after one.
Things didn't slow down much for the Gulls in the second period, scoring the first five goals of the quarter to put Gordon down by 12. Jennings, Colin Bannon (Westport, Conn.) and Pinciaro all finished unassisted scores, while Weber completed a hat-trick on passes from Jennings and Bannon.
Owenn Geis (Santa Ana, Calif.) took advantage of Cameron Bell (Falmouth, Maine) playing too far off his line with time winding down in the half. Geis corralled a loose ball and lofted a 35 yard shot that sailed just under the crossbar for Gordon's final goal of the half.
Bannon and Weber opened up the second half with two quick goals to put the Gulls up 16-3.
Nico Manganiello (Peabody, Mass.) and
Roger Evans (Oxford, Pa.) scored two goals right back for the Scots, but Endicott tallied the next four scores for a 15-goal lead.
Martin added his first of the game with just over a minute left in the third to take a 20-6 deficit into the finale.
Pinciaro, Kyle Wallck (Madison, Conn.) and Doug Richardson (Arlington, Mass.) fired off the first three goals of the final period for Endicott's largest lead of the game at 23-6. Gordon scored five consecutive goals over the final 10 minutes, including Martin's second and third of the contest.
Bell was outstanding in between the pipes for the Gulls with 12 saves and only allowing six goals in three quarters of work.
Cody Greenwald (Albany, N.Y.) and
Brian Lane (Rochester, N.Y) combined to make 13 stops.
Hughes won the face-off battle with 19-of-33 starts won and had a game-high 11 ground balls. Endicott beat Gordon 38-25 in the ground ball category and outshot the Scots 50-34 for the game—36 of which were on net.
Both teams have big games coming up in conference play. Endicott travels to Western New England on Saturday for what will end up deciding which teams gets the top seed in the CCC tournament. Gordon travels to Nichols on Saturday for a pivotal matchup that has major implications on playoff seeding.
