WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Endicott men’s soccer team went on the road and earned their first victory of the 2011 season in dramatic fashion on the foot of a successful penalty kick attempt in the 85^th minute by sophomore forward Alex Elia (Somers, Conn.), beating Westfield State 2-1. 

The Gulls improved to 1-6-2 (0-2-1 CCC) with the win over Westfield State, who dropped to 6-2-1 (1-0-1 MASCAC) following their first loss at home.

Endicott saw freshman goalkeeper Aaron Kanter (Medfield, Mass.) was a force between the posts, making 12 saves in the match.  Kanter, last week’s CCC Defensive and Rookie of the Week, moved his goalie record to 1-2-2 following his effort in net. 

The Gulls set the tone early, scoring the match’s first goal in the 4^th minute as junior forward Jared Rizzo (Peabody, Mass.) took advantage of a defensive mix up by Westfield State that left him wide open from 15 yards out for his first goal of the season.  The goal gave Endicott their first lead in nearly 685 minutes of play this season.

Endicott held the 1-0 lead until Westfield State evened the score the 11:46 mark on an unassisted tally by Owls senior forward Josh Severns (Suffield, Conn.) who collected a ball that skipped past the Gulls backline and finished past the keeper Kanter.

Endicott and Westfield State went into halftime tied just a 1-1 score despite a combined 26 shots.

Midway through the second half, the tone of the match changed dramatically as Owls junior back Jared Spicer (Carver, Mass.) was issued a red card, after receiving a yellow in the first half, which gave Endicott a man-advantage for the remainder of the match.

With 5:15 remaining in regulation, Gulls sophomore midfielder Brett Longobucco (Torrington, Conn.) was brought down in the box, earning a penalty kick attempt to put Endicott ahead.  Elia drilled his shot past Owls keeper senior goalie Jeff Pepoli (Ashburnham, Mass.) to give Endicott their second lead of the match. 

It would be a lead the Blue and Green would not relinquish as Endicott rode out the final minutes of the match for their first win of the season and their first since October 27^th, 2010. 

The two teams matched each other in shots with 21 with the Gulls holding a slight 14-13 advantage in shots on goal.  The Owls took six corner kick attempts compared to two for Endicott while committing two more fouls, 14-12. 

Five cards were handed out by the officials in this match.  Westfield State’s Jared Spicer earned a yellow (32:58) and a red (62:12) and goalie Jeff Pepoli (73:49) was given a yellow.  Endicott’s Ryan Coates (Wethersfield, Conn.) and Pietro Gaudiano (Boston, Mass.) were both handed yellow cards at 36:04 and 62:50, respectively.

Endicott returns to their conference schedule on Saturday, October 1^st against the 4-4-1 (1-1-1 CCC) Salve Regina Seahawks.  The match starts at 3:30 pm on Brother Michael Reynolds Field on Salve's campus in Newport, R.I.