BEVERLY, Mass. – In what was largely a defensive struggle, the Endicott Gulls and Roger Williams Hawks battled for 90 minutes at Endicott Stadium Saturday afternoon. In the end, Endicott came up just short, dropping a 1-0 decision in their first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) test of the year.
Endicott's loss was just their second of the year, as the Gulls fall to 4-2-1 on the season and start their conference mark at 0-1. The Hawks improve to 5-1 on the year and have a leg up in the conference with a 1-0 record.
Kamali Webson (Bellingham, Mass.) scored the only goal of the game in the 66th minute. Webson connected on a Bradley McDonald (Topsfield, Mass.) corner kick and beat Endicott keeper Daniel Higgins (South Kingstown, R.I.) for his third goal of the year.
The corner was one of just two opportunities for the Hawks, while Endicott had six chances from the corner flag but was unable to connect on any of them. Endicott outshot their visitors 8-7 in the second half, but were outshot 11-9 overall. Ryan D'Amico (Marlborough, Conn.) led Endicott with three attempts, one of them on goal.
The Gulls forced three saves out of junior goalkeeper Jon Pelloso (Wilbraham, Mass.). The best attempt of the day came down the stretch from junior back Bobby Durben (Stow, Mass.), who fired a cross/shot from 25 yards out that Pelloso leaped up and got fingers on before tipping it to himself and falling down with the ball in his grasp.
Higgins made four saves in defeat for the Gulls.
The Gulls will return to non-conference action on Tuesday evening when they welcome in the Tufts Jumbos for a 7:00 pm start.
Roger Williams will play the next day, travelling to MIT for a 6:00 pm game against the Engineers.
