BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team played host to Springfield College on Monday night for a non-conference matchup. Senior Ryan Malone (Chicopee, Mass.) scored the lone goal of the night to give the Pride the 1-0 win. Endicott moves to 4-5, (1-1 CCC) while their opponents move to 5-2, (0-1 NEWMAC).
The first half showed great defense from the Gulls as they took on 12 shots as a unit. The Pride worked well in the final third creating many scoring opportunities. Malone was the ring leader for the Pride offense taking nine shots on the night. Despite their efforts however, the Blue and Green were dominate in the defensive zone stopping all plays that came their way. Sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) was strong in goal making four saves on the frame
Endicott had a great opportunity in the opening minutes of the game as senior Bobby Durben (Stow, Mass.) took the ball on a breakaway and ran towards the goal. Freshman goalkeeper Zach Richard (Millbury, Mass.) ran out towards Durben and made an incredible slide tackle to take the ball away and come up with the save. The Blue and Green kept chugging in the final third taking six shots but were unsuccessful. The first frame was tough for both sides as it ended in a stalemate, 0-0.
The second half showed even more shots by the Pride as they took 15 to keep the Gulls defense on their toes. At 51:36 Springfield finally found the back of the net off a great three man effort from junior Drew Sommer (West Chester, Pa.), and seniors Danny Amato (Newington, Conn.) and Malone. Sommer started off with the ball and made a crisp pass to Amato who found Malone on the left side, Malone was able to make a quick move past an Endicott defender and find the left back corner of the net.
Springfield had a great opportunity at 77:47 to score an insurance goal but Peluso and his defense were dominate in the defensive box and never let up. The Pride were awarded two corner kicks in a row, and the first kick came from Amato and sent the ball high to a teammate who blasted the ball at goal but a Gulls defender made a gasping save on the goal line and kicked the ball out of play. A moment later the Pride were awarded a second corner kick. Amato took the kick and again sent it in high but Peluso came out of the scramble and leaped to punch the ball out of play to keep the Gulls in the game.
The goal did not phase the Blue and Green as they kept working offensively to put a tally on the board. The Gulls took nine shots in the frame led by junior Connor Gibbs (Westborough, Mass.) and freshman Edwin Demoya (Salem, Mass.). Demoya had a great opportunity at 82:09 after he blasted a shot at goal to the left corner but Richard was able to come up with his best save of the night to keep the Gulls off the board. That shot would be the last big opportunity for Endicott as the horn went off and the Pride came out with the victory.
Despite the loss Endicott played hard and worked to find the back of the net. The defensive unit was strong and only let up one goal on 27 shots. Peluso came away with nine saves while his counterpart Richard made seven.
Endicott will look forward to Saturday September 28th as they play host to CCC opponent Wentworth for a 3:00 PM start. The Pride will also play on Saturday as they travel to Emerson for a 12:00 PM match.
