Third Period Surge Sends No. 13/13 Endicott Past Buffalo State, 4-3

NORTHFIELD, Vt. — Trailing 3-1 headed into the third period, No. 13/13 nationally ranked Endicott scored three unanswered goals to rally past Buffalo State, 4-3, on Friday night at Kreitzberg Arena.

Tonight's game between Endicott and Buffalo State served as the first of four games scheduled to be played in the Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament, which is being hosted by Norwich University this weekend.

In the third period, Endicott wasted little time mounting its comeback as Tommy Besinger (Milton, Mass.) stuffed home a loose puck near the right post just 19-seconds into the action to make it 3-2. 

Two minutes and 12 seconds later, Luke Rodgers (Clarkston, Mich.) evened up the contest when he intercepted a pass behind the net from Buffalo State's goaltender and scored on the vacant net, short-handed.

The Gulls then waited until the 15:33 mark of the period to find the game-winner as Josh Bowes (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) sniped a shot from the right face-off dot under Connor Minch's (Manchester, N.H.) blocker-side shoulder for the 4-3 advantage.

Endicott netminder Conor O'Brien (Pinellas Park, Fla.) was able to hold form the rest of the way making three saves to seal the victory. O'Brien, who finished with 27 saves total, was also aided by his defense down the stretch as Jason Kalinowski (Stamford, Conn.) blocked three shots and Michael Heidkamp (Marietta, Ga.) blocked one.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Tonight's game was the first-ever meeting between Endicott and Buffalo State.
• Endicott is 1-0-2 all-time at Kreitzberg Arena. 
• Bowes' game-winner was the third of his career. 
• It also marked his 49th career goal and puts him at 97 career points.
• In the Gulls' 6-2 victory over Amherst on December 31, 2018, Ross Olsson (Billerica, Mass.) became the first student-athlete in program history to score 50 career goals with his power play tally at 3:06 of the first period.

WHAT'S NEXT

No. 13/13 Endicott (9-3-1) plays the winner of Norwich & Neumann in the Northfield Savings Bank Holiday Tournament championship game on Saturday at 7 PM. Buffalo State (6-5-1) takes on the loser between Norwich & Neumann tomorrow at 4 PM. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)