Endicott Tops JWU, 2-1, Behind Hughes’ Game-Winner Late In The Third

BEVERLY, Mass. – Sophomore forward Caroline Hughes (Andover, Mass.) lifted the Endicott women's ice hockey team to a 2-1 victory over Johnson & Wales University on Friday night at Raymond J. Bourque Arena with her second career game-winning goal at the 15:16 mark of the third period.

Hughes aided the Gulls in remaining unbeaten (2-0-0) this season when she punched home a rebound into a wide open net from the left post after gathering a shot that went wide from teammate Holly Erbe (Woodbine, Md.), on the power play.

Maggie Layo (Sandwich, Mass.) orchestrated the scoring opportunity by digging out a puck near the left side boards before swinging a cross ice pass along the blue line to Erbe for the eventual goal.

Layo also gave Endicott a 1-0 advantage in the contest after she cleaned up Rachel Lustenring's (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) rebound at 2:43 of the third, but Kathryn Mason (Grafton, Mass.) scored a nearly identical goal 5:05 later to even up the contest at 1-1.

Gulls' netminder Vendela Jonsson (Linkoping, Sweden) stopped 14 shots in the win (2-0-0), while Julie Aberg (Stockholm, Sweden) made a career-high 63 saves in her collegiate debut (0-1-0).

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is 3-0-0 against Johnson & Wales in the all-time series.
• The Gulls went 33-for-57 on faceoffs, with Layo leading the way with 12 wins.
• Meredith Vlachos (East Bridgewater, Mass.) also notched nine faceoff victories.
• Layo and Hughes scored their first goals of the season, respectively, tonight, while Lustenring, Erbe, and Layo also picked up their first assists of the year.
• Ellen Carter (Roseville, Minn.) blocked a team-high three shots.

FOR THE FOES

• Casey Chodkowski (Somerset, Mass.) and Tamara Bowden (Weymouth, Mass.) both assisted on Mason's tally.
• Aberg had 25 saves in the first, 21 in the second, and 17 in the third for her 63 on the night.
• Tilda Ekstrom (Gothenberg, Sweden), Victoria Perez (Livonia, Mich.), and Bowden all blocked four shots apiece in the loss.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (2-0-0, 1-0-0 CHC) will travel to Pawtucket, R.I. tomorrow to complete its home-and-home series with Johnson & Wales (1-1-0, 0-1-0 CHC) at 7:00 p.m. 

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