BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team hosted Husson College on Friday evening for the first round of the annual Gull Invitational. The match marked the Gulls 2014 home opener. In the 51st minute Husson's, senior Andy Stevick (Rockport, Maine) earned the game winner off a penalty kick. Despite the loss the Blue and Green showed an impressive attack that totaled 31 shots and 14 corner attempts.
Endicott falls to 0-1 (0-0 CCC) while the Eagles earned their first victory of the season starting at 1-0 (0-0 NAC). Endicott will compete with Skidmore College tomorrow at 1:00 p.m. for the Gull invitational consolation match while Husson will look to face Montclair State University in the invitational championship at 4:00 p.m. at Endicott Stadium.
The first half was an ultimate battle that possessed a strong Endicott squad who came out of the gates firing with 14 shots. Three different Gulls put up two shots each while rookie midfielder Connor Couchot (Mason, Ohio) had a great opportunity in the 20th minute when he blasted a shot from the top of the final third that reamed off the crossbar.
Couchot's close shot fired up the young squad as freshman Brendan McLaughlin (Colchester, Conn.), sophomore Brian Blanchard (Hingham, Mass.) and juniors Kyle Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) and Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) all posed great threats to the Eagles defense. Also creating to great opportunities were junior striker Zach Rizzo (Redding, Conn.) and center midfielder, junior Sintaroh Itoh (Nerima, Tokyo).
For the Eagles most of the half was played on the defensive end holding a strong Endicott attack that kept senior goalkeeper Brian Potter (Waterville, Maine) busy with four saves.
The second half showed a resilient Endicott offense who posted 17 shots while forcing 10 corners. In the 51st minute Stevick was on a run competing with freshman back, Carter Ocko (Danvers, Mass.) and forced a foul in the box. Given the penalty kick opportunity Stevick tallied the lone goal of the evening with a mid-ball to the right side that slipped past senior goalkeeper Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.).
With the game on the line the Gulls shifted into gear with huge shots from Al Khalifa who pushed many scoring opportunities in the final 20 minutes of regulation. McLaughlin was a force on corner kicks taking almost all 17 in the half. The Gulls worked the final third but struggled to finish on the scoreboard forcing Potter to make five saves in the half.
Endicott again possessed the ball for most of the second half allowing just four Husson shots and two total corner kicks led by a strong defensive line of Ocko, senior Jed Magnusson (Kingston, N.H.) and freshman Ryan Cohane (Easton, Conn.). Despite the loss the Blue and Green made great movements in the midfield and created strong opportunities on the attack.
Jorge ended the night with two saves while Potter finished with nine.
Endicott will look to pick back up tomorrow against non-conference opponent Skidmore.
