BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team hosted Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Eastern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon. Four different Gulls tallied points in the match while junior Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.) and sophomore Kyle Bisceglia each recorded a goal. Tonight marks the Blue and Greens first CCC win of the season, now standing at 4-3, 1-0 and the Lions fall to 0-4, 0-1.
Both squads came out firing in the first half with a combined 15 shots. The Gulls defense did a great job at defending the backfield only allowing five shots. The Lions had a really great opportunity at 24:07 when sophomore Will Campbell (Anchorage, Alaska) sent a shot at net but sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) came up with the save. Seconds later junior Scott Hansen (Middletown Spring, Vt.) picked up the rebound and blasted a shot but it sailed wide.
The Blue and Green had a few opportunities in the half before they finally got in the board. At 24:46 junior Connor Gibbs (Westborough, Mass.) blasted one towards the net but junior goalkeeper Jake Johnson (Mount Bethel, Pa.) came up with the save. At 39:45 Jorge ripped a shot at goal that was blocked by the Lions defense.
14 seconds later he got redemption as senior Brett Longobucco (Torrington, Conn.) dribbled down the center towards goal and slipped a pass through two defenders to find Jorge in front of the net. Jorge let it fly as it hit the bottom of the crossbar and bounced into the back of the net to give the Gulls the lead. The rest of the half ended with a shot of goal for each squad that Peluso and Johnson were both able to save.
In the opening minutes of the second frame the Gulls tallied their final goal of the game to take increase the lead to two. At 49:07 the Lions committed a foul near the end line. Sophomore Alex Tonesberg (Westport, Conn.) lined up for the free hit around the five and to the left of the goal. He sent the ball up across the cage where Bisceglia was able to jump up and head the ball into the back of the net. The goal marked Bisceglia's first goal on the season as a defensive back.
Despite the lead the Gulls never backed down forcing 11 shots in the frame. The Lions never gave up either as they kept putting pressure on Peluso. At 58:34 the Lions almost tallied a goal as Campbell broke free and came one on one towards the goal. Peluso came out to challenge the play while Campbell ripped a shot point-blank towards the net but Peluso showed no mercy as he made an incredible save to keep the Lions off the board.
Offensively the Blue and Green had brought their best game creating huge pressure in the final third with efforts from freshman Edwin Demoya (Salem, Mass.), sophomore Sebastian Rozo (Stamford, Conn.) and senior James Mercer (South Hadley, Mass.). Defensively the Gulls were a solid unit on the afternoon coming away with the shutout. In front of Peluso were juniors Jed Magnusson (Kingston, N.H.) and Michael DiTommaso (Farmington, Conn.) who were aggressive and kept the ball out of the box for most of the match. Peluso came out with an impressive six saves while his counterpart, Johnson made eight.
The Blue and Green now look ahead to tomorrow, Sunday September 15th where they will face the Keene State Owls. For two Gulls it will be more than just a match as Mercer and Bisceglia will each face their brothers who play for the Owls. Mercer will be facing his younger brother while Bisceglia will face his twin brother. The match is set to start at 6:00 PM. The Lions will continue their series of away games as they head to Norwich on Monday September 16th for a 7:00 PM start.
