BEVERLY, Mass. – A strike from Endicott senior Melissa Enright (York Beach, Maine) was the difference in an intensely competitive and exciting Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) field hockey semifinal on Thursday night at North Field.
Enright's 13th goal of the year seven and a half minutes into overtime sealed a 2-1 victory for Endicott (14-4) and sent the top seeded and defending champion Gulls into their second consecutive CCC title game.
The strike was the first scoring of the game since the end of the first half, as much of the second half, and the game itself, was played in the midfield. The play began on a penalty corner for Endicott and then continued when senior Taylor Matties (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) had two shots at the Gordon cage stopped. Enright, running at the left side, pounced on the second loose ball and muscled it into the cage for the sudden-death victory.
After twenty-five minutes of stalemate to start the game, the hosts got on the board first when sophomores Kathryn Walker (Middlebury, Conn.) and Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) hooked up off of an Endicott penalty corner. Sawchuck delivered the ball into the box and Walker was on the end to tip the ball over the head of Gordon keeper Anna Bury (Huntingtown, Md.) for her fourth goal of the year.
Gordon struck back just before half-time with an unassisted goal by top scorer Karli Balmer (Perkasie, Pa.), her 12th of the season.
Endicott outshot the Scots 22-8, including 11-3 in the second half, but chances were hard to come by and many of the best ones were snuffed out by Gordon sophomore Gayle Watson (Harare, Zimbabwe). Watson made three defensive saves in a span of fifteen minutes in the first half, as the Scots stymied several good attempts by Endicott, including ones off the sticks of Walker, Enright and midfielder Stacie Teevens (Westborough, Mass.).
The Gulls had the only three shots and the only two corners of the overtime period and had a 14-2 edge in penalty corners throughout the semi-finals.
Endicott senior goalkeeper Taylor Teixeira (Exeter, N.H.) improved to 14-4 for the season, making three stops in net, while Bury was forced to make nine saves for the visitors.
Endicott and Gordon were meeting for the second consecutive year in the CCC semifinals, and the Gulls made it victories in two straight years while improving their program record against the Scots to 12-3.
The Gulls will try to defend the program's first championship on Saturday afternoon when they host Nichols College, who they defeated twice in the 2012 regular season. The Championship game is set for 1:00 pm on North Field.
Gordon sees their season come to a close with a record of 6-14.
