BEVERLY, Mass.- After an 8-9-3 season in 2011, the men's soccer team had high hopes and goals coming into the 2012 season. While the ultimate goal of winning their first ever Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) title and securing an NCAA tournament bid wasn't fulfilled, the squad still made history by recording the program's first ever postseason tournament victory.
That first victory was won in the most dramatic of fashions as Endicott advanced to the semifinals of the ECAC tournament. Locked up at 0-0 after two overtime periods against Lasell in the quarterfinals, Endicott was able to advance thanks to a 3-2 advantage on penalty kicks. During the best-of-five shootout, Endicott freshman keeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) came up huge as he made three saves that secured the first postseason win in Endicott history. Senior keeper Daniel Higgins (South Kingstown, R.I.) started the first half and played a key role in keeping the Lasers off the board. With the victory, the Gulls moved on as the #6 seed to take on the #2 seed Coast Guard in the semifinals where they would come up just short by losing 2-1.
To go along with their CCC quarterfinal and ECAC semifinal appearances, the Gulls pulled in individual accolades as well. Freshman Jordan Daniel (Canton, Conn.) enjoyed one of the most memorable seasons in recent Endicott history as he was named CCC Rookie of the Year and All-CCC First Team after a regular season in which he posted team and conference highs in goals (12) and points (28). Daniel also recorded four assists during his freshman campaign. Joining Daniel with All-CCC nominations were a pair of seniors in defender Kevin Gnecco (North Hampton, N.H.) and keeper Daniel Higgins. Gnecco was named All-CCC Second team as he played a key role for a defensive unit that held opponents to a 1.06 goals against average, also a program best since the 2003 season. Higgins was also a key defensive player as the senior was named All-CCC Honorable Mention after posting a goals against average of 1.04. Higgins also posted a record of 7-4-3 with two shutouts.
The highlight victory for the 2012 season was another small piece of Endicott history that was made against cross-town rival Gordon. Coming into the year, the Fighting Scots were undefeated against the Gulls. All of that changed on October 3rd as Endicott made the short trip to the hostile grounds of Gordon for their midseason CCC matchup. Gordon entered the match with a 3-6-1 overall record while standing at 2-2 in CCC play. Endicott entered with a 5-5-2 record and a 0-2-1 conference record. Eventual CCC Rookie of the Year Jordan Daniel kicked off the scoring by finishing a cross from freshman Zach Rizzo (Redding, Conn.). Alex Tonsberg (Westport, Conn.) was able to boot home a shot off of a pass from Daniel that grew the lead to 2-0. The lead would increase again as Daniel broke away unassisted and notched his second goal of the match. The teams would trade goals the rest of the way as the Gulls wound up defeating the Scots for the first time ever by a final of 5-2. That match marked the turning point of the season as Endicott would go on to post a 4-1-2 overall record the rest of the way.
Endicott has reason to look forward to the future as second year head coach Joe Calabrese has guided the program to a 17-17-8 record over the past two seasons and has seen their win total increase while playing a top out of conference schedule. The Gulls return a roster that posted 86 of the team's 88 points on the season as they offensively lose just one goal to graduation. While replacing key defenders will be a priority, the team is primed to make big strides forward in the 2013 season.
