MIDDLETOWN, R.I. – The Endicott field hockey team traveled to Salve Regina on Wednesday night for a CCC matchup under the lights. Despite the efforts from the Blue and Green, the Seahawks came out with the win 1-0. The Gulls move to 5-6, (2-2 CCC) while Salve improves to 4-5, (3-1 CCC).
The first half of the game showed more of a defensive game for the Blue and Green, as they spent a lot of time defending their zone. The Seahawks sent seven shots at senior goalkeeper Lizetta Solarik (Carmel, N.Y.), forcing her to make four saves in the frame.
At 7:48 senior Lisa Bucci (Irvington, N.Y.) had a great opportunity for the Seahawks as she ripped a shot at Solarik which she was able to save, but Bucci grabbed her rebound and found Solarik off her angle and sent another shot at cage but sophomore Kristen O'Brien (New Boston, N.H.) made the impressive defensive save.
The Gulls worked to get into a groove throughout the half with efforts by junior trio Mackenzie Hurst (Gilford, N.H.), Meghan Leary (Hampton Falls, N.H.) and Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) At 24:11 Hurst had a great shot on goal when she took the ball up the left side and took a reverse sweep at net but junior goalkeeper Murphy McCann (Westerly, R.I.) made the save to keep the Gulls off the board.
In the final minutes Salve almost got on the board when sophomore Abigal Tepper (Foxboro, Mass.) came towards the right side of the goal all alone, but Solarik was able to step out and make the diving save to keep the game scoreless to enter halftime.
The second half showed more of an offensive push for Endicott as they took five shots, but with that also came more determination from the Seahawks as they took six.
In the opening 10 minutes Sawchuck and Hurst gave Endicott two chances to get a tally on the board as they both sent shots at net but Murphy was able to come up with both saves and hold the Gulls scoreless. Offensively the Blue and Green just could not connect to put a tally on the board. This put immense pressure on the defense to keep the squad in the game. Senior Emily O'Halloran (Cheshire, Conn.) was a key contributor to stopping the 13 shots from the Seahawks along with O'Brien and Solarik.
At 57:05 Salve finally got their chance as freshman Courtney McMorrow (Montclair, N.J.) controlled a rebound off an initial shot from teammate, sophomore Lindsey Mazzola (Upton, Mass.) and slipped it past Solarik on the right post to take the 1-0 lead.
The Gulls continued to try and move the ball up the field but were unsuccessful giving the Seahawks the win. Despite the loss the Blue and Green were a strong defensive unit, Solarik came out of the match with six saves while her counterpart, Murphy had 5.
Endicott looks to an exciting homecoming weekend as they host conference rival University of New England on Saturday October 5th at 1:00 p.m. Salve Regina will also play on Saturday where they host conference opponent Roger Williams at 1:00 p.m.
