QUINCY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team traveled to Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday night for the last regular season match of 2014. After a late second half goal by junior Zach Rizzo (Redding, Conn.) the Gulls lifted to a 1-0 victory over the Lions. Endicott wraps up the regular season at 9-6-3 (4-2-3 CCC) while the Lions fall to 5-12-1 (1-7-1 CCC).
Endicott will see the field next on Saturday, October 1st as they wait for the pairings release by the conference for the upcoming CCC Tournament. Saturday will be the opening round of the men's soccer tournament with the quarterfinals, locations and times are TBD.
The first half was a battle of possession as the Lions just outshot the Blue and Green 6-5 while the Gulls earned three corner opportunities to the Lions one. Endicott started working the Lions defense in the opening minutes of play as freshman Ryan Cohane (Easton, Conn.) blasted a shot at goal but sophomore goalkeeper Jameson MacFarland (Jacksonville, Fla.) was able to make the stop.
10 minutes later Eastern Nazarene put pressure on the Gulls strong defensive unit as freshman Andrew Nelson (Burtonville, Md.) sent a shot to goal but senior goalkeeper, Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.) was able to make the impressive save to keep the Lions off the board.
After a few more efforts from the Blue and Green by senior Connor Gibbs (Westborough, Mass.) and Rizzo, the Lions made Jorge work between the pipes with five minutes remaining in the half. Senior Scott Hansen (Middletown Springs, Vt.) from Eastern Nazarene sent a crisp header to the top corner but an athletic Jorge was able to dive up and make the save to keep the score at a stalemate entering halftime.
The second half was a similar battle, this time with the Gulls outshooting the Lions 5-4. The first Blue and Green shot of the second half came at the 71 minute mark which also resulted in the tie breaking goal. Rizzo had the ball at the top of the 18 and blasted a shot that soared into the back of the net to give the Gulls a 1-0 lead. The goal would mark as the fifth goal of the season for Rizzo and would be the game winner.
With the lead the Gulls would continue to pressure the Lions defense forcing MacFarland to make some crucial saves. The Endicott midfield and defensive unit worked extremely hard as they held Eastern Nazarene to just one shot in the remaining 19 minutes of the half.
With their strong efforts the lone goal by Rizzo would be all the Blue and Green would need as they clinched the victory.
Tomorrow afternoon will conclude CCC play for the two teams that have not wrapped up the regular season. At the conclusion of the 3:00 p.m. match between Western New England and Salve Regina the conference will release the final pairings for the upcoming tournament. Stay connected with updates tomorrow night at ECGulls.com.
