By: Sarah DeWolfe | Co-Editor
The second and final game of this weekend’s “Battle of the Birds” series (as it has been dubbed) took place Saturday night on the Seahawks’ home ice where the Endicott Gulls stole the win in the last 24 seconds of the game.
Salve Regina took over hosting duties following a tough 4-3 overtime decision in favor of the Gulls on Friday night. The teams netted three goals each in the first period alone and remained silent on the scoreboard until Freshman Zach Mazur secured the win for Endicott with his second goal of the game coming 2 minutes into overtime.
With Saturday’s game following such a close match, tensions ran high from puck drop to the final buzzer as both teams in this rivalry exchanged hard hits, stare-downs, and loveless language from the penalty boxes.
Though the first period came and went without a goal for either side, there was plenty of action on the ice with both teams displaying physicality early on, combining for 6 penalties. Players brought their best (or worst) smack talk with them into the penalty boxes throughout the match, refusing to let the acrylic walls stop them from getting into one another’s heads.
The first goal of the game came from Endicott Freshman Thomas Albert-who also had a goal in the previous night’s match-just about halfway through the second period. The Gulls weren’t able to build off this momentum and the Seahawks couldn’t turn the tides in their favor before the second period expired. But the final 20 minutes is where it truly got exciting.
With 4 minutes remaining Salve Junior Danny Eruzione earned himself a game-ending trip to the penalty box after a hard collision with Endicott Senior Jacob Gammelgaard, which proved to be the beginning of the climactic end for the Seahawks.
(Watch it happen with the link below at 2:04:50)
As both players laid on the floor nursing injuries, Salve Junior Ed Hirka found himself literally on thin ice with head referee Eric Doyle after he apparently had some “unacceptable” things to say from the bench. He was sent to the sin-bin for a 10 minute misconduct. When the dust settled, the Seahawks were left to play out the rest of the match in a 5 on 4 scenario already trailing the Gulls by 1. Everyone in the rink sensed that this game was essentially over except for one Seahawk, who made sure the visiting team didn’t get too comfortable with their lead, telling his heckling opponent, “The night’s not over, buddy.”
He wasn’t wrong.
As the clock counted down the final minutes, Salve Sophomore George Sennott had had enough being on the defensive and took matters into his own hands. Though shorthanded, he managed to steal the puck away and escort it down the ice where he personally showed it the back of the net to unexpectedly tie the game up with 3:45 left to play.
With the possibility of back to back games going into overtime becoming more likely, loyal fans were finding out why this Battle of the Birds is so highly anticipated. Unfortunately, it was a short-lived celebration for the home team as they were right back on defense against the continued Endicott powerplay. Sophomore Louis-Felix St. Jean made 7 of his total 37 saves in just over 3 minutes an attempt to hold off for overtime, but with just 24 seconds left Graduate student Jason Kalinowski scored unassisted to seal the win for the Gulls. It was a heartbreaking-and in the case of Salve Regina Head Coach Zech Klann-infuriating way to lose to a conference rival.
The successful weekend for the Gulls makes them 12-5 overall and 12-2 in the CCC, placoing Endicott in a tie for first place in the conference standings with the University of New England. The Seahawks fall to 12-8-1 overall and 8-5-1 in the CCC landing them 4th place in the conference.
Salve Regina sees conference play again this weekend as they take on Curry College on their turf Friday the 14th before bringing the fight to Portsmouth Abbey on Saturday.
LINK TO VIDEO BROADCAST: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHy2WOpHgRQ&feature=youtu.be
