Endicott Halts MIT's Undefeated Streak

Dec. 2, 2006

Endicott was excited for a home game after several on the road, as they hosted the MIT Engineers on Saturday. Freshman Matt Murray was in the pipes for this one as he stumped the Engineers by making and astonishing 40 saves on 41 shots. The game began with back and forth play, shot for shot on goal with Endicott playing a very aggressive game, with plenty of big hits from senior captain Mike Manfredi. Just three minutes into the game sophomore Pat Kennedy came barreling in on a rebound that he slammed home to notch his first point of the season and put the gulls up 1-0. For the remainder of the period it seemed that Endicott was bound to put another past the Engineer goalie, but with no such luck, the period ended with a 1-0 lead. Coming into the second period, the Gulls were energetic and ready to extend their lead, until four minutes in; the Engineers popped one in past a sprawling Murray. Murray did everything he could to make the save but the shot was nicely placed giving Murray no chance at it. With the score tied 1-1, the remainder of the period was more and more back and forth play with heavy hitting by the Engineers and some nice set-ups by Endicott which they failed to capitalize on. The third period was just as exciting as the first two, as both teams had held each other scoreless until the last seven minutes of the game, when junior forward Brian Sullivan received a nice tic-tac-toe series of passes from Drew Moore and Mike Manfredi as Sullivan tapped in the game winner. With what would end up being the game winner in the net for the Gulls, the Engineers didn't roll over as they peppered Murray with an amazing 24 shots in the third period, but Murray had an answer for each shot. Murray shut out the Engineers in the third period and sealed the victory for the home team. Endicott plays UVM tomorrow at 1:15pm in Vermont as they try to double their win total for the weekend.