Gulls Hold Off Golden Bears, 5-3

Beck powers Western New England offense with two goals and one assist

WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (December 1, 2017) – No. 8/9 nationally ranked Endicott College broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third period and went on to post a 5-3 victory over Western New England University on Friday evening in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) men's ice hockey action at the Olympia Ice Center.   

Top Performers
• Junior forward Steve Beck (Milton, N.Y.) powered the Western New England offense with two goals and one assist.
• Senior center Matt Smethurst (Rexford, N.Y.) also turned in a multi-point effort with one goal and one assist.

• Endicott junior forward Daniel Kucerovy (Bethel Park, N.Y.) found the back of the net twice for the Gulls and also handed out an assist.
• Junior forward Thomas Daniels (St. Louis, Mo.) tallied the game-winning goal with 9:09 remaining in the contest on a feed from junior defenseman Logan Day (Seminole, Fla.), who registered two assists in the contest.

Game Review
• Endicott took a 1-0 lead with a shorthanded goal at the 7:32 mark of the first period, when junior Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alta.) stole the puck from Western New England junior goaltender Kevin Gollmer (Flourtown, Pa.) behind the net and scored on a wrap around.
• Beck tied the contest just over three minutes later, but the Gulls restored their lead with 5:17 left in the frame when sophomore Jack Kilty (Medway, Mass.) notched a power play goal.
• An Endicott turnover 8:37 into the second period resulted in Beck's second goal of the game. The visitors answered again, however, as Day set up Kucerovy to put the Gulls back in front at the 12:12 mark of the frame.
• The Golden Bears continued to push for the game-tying goal, before breaking through for their third equalizer less than two minutes into the third period when Smethurst buried his second of the season.
• Daniels scored the goal that would stand as the game-winner at the 9:09 mark, and Kucerovy tallied an insurance goal four minutes later as Endicott held on for the win.

Notes
• The Gulls outshot the Golden Bears 54-25 and held a 46-24 advantage in the faceoff circle.
• Beck, who leads Western New England with 17 points this season, has registered ten over his last four games.
• Gollmer finished with 49 saves, while Endicott sophomore Justin Ketola (Esko, Minn.) made 22 stops. 

Up Next
Western New England (4-6-1, 1-5-1 CCC) and Endicott (8-1, 7-0 CCC) will be back in action tomorrow, as the teams complete their two-game series at Raymond Bourque Arena in Beverly, Mass. with opening faceoff scheduled for 4:30 p.m.