BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team won a very physical battle against the No. 16 nationally-ranked Tufts Jumbos, 1-0, Tuesday night at Hempstead Stadium in non-conference action.
Freshman midfielder Rieley Hoffman (Watertown, N.Y) broke up a scoreless outing in the second half as he sent a soaring header to the left post off a free kick 45 yards out from junior back Brendan McLaughlin (Colchester, Conn.).
Hoffman's first career goal gave the Gulls a 1-0 lead in the 58th minute that proved to be all the offense Endicott would need to shut out the visiting Jumbos, despite Tufts out-shooting the Gulls, 15-6.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- Endicott and Tufts met for the seventh time in program history, as Tufts stills leads the all-time series, 6-1-0, dating back to the first meeting in 2003.
- Endicott is now 1-4 all-time at home against the Jumbos and 1-3 overall during Calabrese's tenure.
- Senior goalkeeper Nick Weinstein (Trumbull, Conn.) stopped eight shots to move to 2-1-0 on the year, giving him his second eight-save outing of the season.
- Weinstein posted his 15th career shutout and second consecutive clean sheet.
- McLaughlin tallied his first assist of the season.
- Tufts had 20 fouls to Endicott's eight, including an 11-6 margin in the first half.
FOR THE FOES
- Senior goalkeeper Scott Greenwood (Weymouth, Mass.) made two saves as he dropped to 0-1-0 in Tufts' season opener.
- The Jumbos were ranked No. 16 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America (NSCAA) preseason poll.
- The Jumbos came into tonight's match having won their last four season openers, as the squad outscored its opponents by a combined total of 16-1 in those matches before tonight.
NOTES
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The Jumbos won, 3-1, in Beverly, Mass. on 09/08/15 in the most recent meeting before tonight.
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (2-1-0, 0-0-0 CCC) is back in action on Saturday, September 10 at 1:30 p.m. as the Gulls go on the road for the first time this season at UMass Dartmouth.
Tufts (0-1-0, 0-0-0 NESCAC) travels to Colby on Saturday, September 10 to open NESCAC play at 3:00 p.m. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
