NORTON, Mass. – The Endicott field hockey team twice rallied from one-goal deficits in the first half to take down host Wheaton College, 6-2, in non-conference action Thursday night at Nordin Field to open the 2016 season.

Down 1-0, freshman forward Nicki Thurston (Fryeburg, Maine) scored her first career goal good for the Gulls' first goal of the season to tie the game in the 20th minute on a feed from junior forward Olivia Larson (Cheshire, Conn.).

Junior forward Brittany Bushey (Pittsford, Vt.) netted the go-ahead goal on an assist by sophomore forward Sophia Cogliano (Saugus, Mass.) with 41 ticks left in the first stanza to give the Gulls a 3-2 advantage heading into the halftime break that proved to be the difference.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is now 4-6 in season openers (3-5 on the road) during head coach Jodi Cipolla's 10-year tenure.
• The Gulls battled back from 1-0 (17th minute) and 2-1 (22nd minute) deficits and went on to score five unanswered goals to close out the game.
• Bushey has three career game-winning goals.
• Junior midfielder Samantha Crowley (Leicester, Mass.) chipped in her first goal of the season as well.
• Junior midfielder Emily Hirtle (Rowley, Mass.) tallied her first assist of the season.
• Cogliano added a goal and one assist for the third time in her career.
• Larson had at least one goal and one assist for just the second time in her career (10/18/14 vs. Western New England) with her pair of goals and one assist tonight.
• Larson registered a career-high five points in a single game (two goals, one assist).
• Senior goalkeeper Cheka Ventura (Lawrence, Mass.) made two saves as she moved to 1-0 on the season.

FOR THE FOES

• Senior forward/midfielder Amelia Gage (Lebanon, N.H.) registered the first goal of the season for the Lyons after redirecting a ball in the circle off a penalty corner play.
• Freshman forward/midfielder Elizabeth Helmreich (Sanford, Maine) recorded her first career goal in the 22nd  minute to round out the scoring for Wheaton.
• Junior goalkeeper Riley Thompson (Fairfield, Conn.) stopped seven shots as she fell to 0-1 on the season.

NOTES

• Endicott improves to 5-2 all-time and 2-1 on the road against the Lyons dating back to the 2003 season.
• Tonight's win was Endicott's largest margin of victory against Wheaton in the history of all-time matchups as the previous record was a 2-0 win on 09/08/2007 in the most recent meeting before today.
• The Gulls have won three straight meetings with the Lyons.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (1-0, 0-0 CCC) is off until Saturday, September 10 when the Gulls travel to face Babson for a 2:00 p.m. start.

Wheaton (0-1, 0-0 NEWMAC) returns to action on the road at Regis (Mass.) on Friday, September 2 at 4:00 p.m. 

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