BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior Carter Horowitz (Tustin, Calif.) scored with five minutes remaining in regulation to snap a 4-all tie and lift the Endicott College hockey team to a 5-4 win over Wentworth Institute of Technology in Commonwealth Coast Conference action Friday night.
With the win the Gulls improve to 5-3-1 overall and 4-3-0 in league play while the Leopards fall to 3-5-4 (3-3-1).
Endicott wasted little time getting on the board as the hosts scored just 35 seconds into the contest on a marker from junior James Winkler (York, Maine), which was assisted by senior Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) and junior Jason Kalinowski (Stamford, Conn.). Wentworth scored a pair of goals in a span of 2:28 to take a 2-1 lead. At the 11:49 mark, sophomore Brenden Lloyd (Merrick, N.Y.) scored from senior Adam Lane (Sarnia, Ont.) and sophomore Dante Flori (Waltham, Mass.), while at 14:17, junior Conner Busch (Lake in the Hills, Ill.) gave the Black & Gold their first lead of the night when he was set up by freshmen Joey O'Leary (Boston, Mass.) and Jake McKenelley (Middleton, Mass.). Wentworth went on the power play with two minutes remaining in the period, however the Gulls were the ones who capitalized on special teams, netting a shorthanded goal with 50 seconds left as senior Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alta.) scored from classmate Daniel Kucerovy (Bethel Park, Pa.). Endicott had a 17-13 shot advantage in the period.
The Gulls reclaimed the lead at the 6:10 mark of the second period as graduate student Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.) scored his first of the contest from Besinger and Kucerovy. A pair of power-play goals from the Black & Gold gave Wentworth the lead back at 4-3. Busch and junior Connor Beaudet (Buffalo, N.Y.) assisted on junior Georgy Gorodetsky's (Yekaterinburg, Russia) marker at 8:09 while junior CJ Grinnell (Burlington, Mass.) and senior Ethan Weiss (Troy, Mich.) picked up assists on a goal from McKenelley at 14:30 which gave the Leopards a 4-3 lead. Endicott knotted the score at 3-all with 26 seconds remaining in the period on Olsson's second of the night, which was assisted by Horwitz and senior Ryan Dougherty (Sterling Heights, Mich.). The Gulls had a 19-8 shot advantage in the period. Seven of Endicott's 19 shots came on two power-play situations while five of the Leopards' eight shots came on three extra-man situations, which included a five-minute power play.
Despite holding a 13-10 shot advantage in the third period, Wentworth was unable to take the lead. Horowitz broke the tie when he was set up by freshman Hunter Luhmann (Lebanon, N.H.) and Besinger, who recorded his third helper of the night. With 1:06 left and the Black & Gold on the power play, freshman Thomas Draper (Binghamton, N.Y.) was pulled for an extra attacker. Wentworth had three shot attempts during this time, however, two went wide and one was blocked.
Senior Mark Specia (Ringwood, N.J.) made 30 saves for the Gulls while Draper made a career-high 41 saves. Junior Liam McKay (Calgary, Alta.) recorded a game-high four blocked shots.
Wentworth hosts Curry on Saturday (December 1) afternoon at 5:00 p.m.
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