Never bet against an R.J. Tolan coached hockey team in a big game … especially in their home barn at Bourque Arena.
The Endicott College men topped Salve Regina, 2-1, in the Commonwealth Coast Conference championship game Saturday afternoon on home ice.
The win made the Gulls (17-5-5) the first time to ever repeat as CCC champs and was also Endicott’s fourth league title, the most of any school in the league’s brief history.
Andrew Kurapov blasted in a one-timer with 57 seconds left in the second period, assisted by Jackson Sterrett and Zach Mazur, to break a 1-1 tie. It stood up as the game-winner since Atticus Kelly stopped all 11 shots that went his way in the third period.
Salve (17-9-2) had a two-man advantage (6-on-4) after Endicott took a penalty with 51 seconds to go, but the Gulls killed it off. In fact, Endicott’s penalty killers were a perfect 4-for-4 on the afternoon.
Cass Bowes had an unassisted goal in the first for Endicott but Salve’s Damon Zimmer tied it up at 6:54 of the second.
A year after advancing to the NCAA Division 3 Frozen Four (played on home ice, in fact), the Gulls return to the national tournament.
Ranked 15th in the national PairWise Rankings, they’ll likely be on the road for the first round and will learn the draw on the NCAA’s selection show on Monday morning.