Sept. 25, 2007
PAXTON, MA - Pranam Lipinski (Adams, MA/Hoosac Valley) tallied a goal and an assist while goalkeeper Cameron Twiss (Reading, MA/Bishop Fenwick) made seven saves, as the Endicott men's soccer team tied Anna Maria, 3-3, on Tuesday afternoon.
The opening half was fairly even as both squads looked to set the tempo. Senior forward Pranam Lipinski was impressive in the early going, keeping the Amcat defense honest with strong play through the middle. Both Anna Maria and Endicott fired five shots in the opening 45:00 minutes of action, as both teams entered the half knotted at 0-0.
The second half was a much different affair as a total of six goals were scored between the two clubs. Junior Brandon Correia (Taunton, MA) broke the scoreless tie just five minutes into the second frame as he flicked a header past Twiss to put the home team up, 1-0. Three minutes later, the hosts struck again as sophomore captain George Markopoulos (Worcester, MA) took a through feed from freshman Anthony Besaw (Leicester, MA) and buried the shot to give the Amcats a comfortable two goal advantage.
Endicott refused to disappear as sophomore DJ Picariello (Boxford, MA/Worcester Academy) found the back of the net from 25-yards out to cut the lead in half, 2-1. With the momentum shifted to the Gulls side, junior Kyle Schmutte (Wilbraham, MA/Minnechaug Regional) converted a corner kick from Lipinski, evening the game at 2-all.
With time winding down late in the second half, Anna Maria's Matthew McKillop (Woburn, MA) lofted a shot from the corner of the box, beating Twiss and giving the Amcats a one-goal advantage. Appearing as if the Gulls would fall, 3-2, Endicott showed their resilience. In the 89th minute, Lipinski finished off a fabulous day by beating keeper Marshall Erickson (Shrewsbury, MA) low to the near post for the, 3-3, draw.
Both teams had their chances in overtime but the clock ran out before either was able to convert. Twiss made two huge saves for the Gulls as time ran down. Both senior captains Eric Booth (Belchertown, MA/Belchertown) for the Gulls, and Matthew Clementi (Northborough, MA) for Anna Maria were huge in anchoring their respective defenses from the sweeper positions.
The draw brings the Gulls record to 0-4-2 overall (0-3-1 TCCC). Endicott returns to action on Thursday as they host UMass-Dartmouth at 7:00 PM in Beverly, MA.