BEVERLY, Mass. — The top-seeded Endicott women's ice hockey team shut out fourth-seeded University of New England, 3-0, in Saturday evening's Conference of New England (CNE) Semifinal matchup from Raymond J. Bourque Ice Arena.
After a scoreless first period, Ella Rago (Westford, Mass.) sniped a right-wing wrister past the Nor'easters' goalie to put the No. 14 nationally ranked Gulls up 1-0 (6:26, second period).
Then, just two minutes later, the Blue and Green doubled up their lead as a beautiful tic-tac-toe transition play set up Julia Carrigan (Northfield, Ill.) for her fifth goal of the season (8:55 mark).
The Gulls maintained that lead for the remainder of the second and the majority of the third period, killing off several Nor'Easter power play opportunities along the way.
With just 3:13 remaining in the final period, the Nor'Easters pulled their goalie, and the Gulls were able to net a third goal via the empty net off of Mackenzie Graham's (Billerica, Mass.) stick.
From there, the Gulls killed off the final three minutes of play and coasted to the shutout win.
Lauren Ferrari (Bridgewater, N.J.) improved to 12-2-1 after her 17-save shutout win.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Gulls advanced to their second consecutive CNE Championship, and their fourth in the last five seasons.
- Rago's goal was the 12th of her career (third career game-winner).
- Graham's empty-netter was also the 12th of her career.
- Ferrari picked up her 10th career shutout.
- Adriana Echavarria (Newtown, Conn.), Jo Wimler (Portland, Conn.), Graham, and Carrigan all dished out assists in the win.
WHAT'S NEXT
Top-seeded Endicott (20-4-2) advances to the CNE Championship against Western New England next Saturday in Bourque Arena. Tickets for the CNE Championship will be released this Wednesday, March 4 at 10 AM.
Fourth-seeded UNE (11-15-1) sees its 2025-26 season come to a close.