BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott women's lacrosse team hosted Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) opponent Gordon on Saturday afternoon. Freshman Emily Whitney (Rye, N.H.) and juniors Kirsten Thor (Longmeadow, Mass.) and Katie Tierney (South Hadley, Mass.) each posted three goals in the 10-4 victory over the cross town rivals. With the triumph the Gulls have now defeated Gordon 10 straight times since 2007. Endicott improves to 10-1 (5-0 CCC) while the Fighting Scots drop their first conference game at 8-3 (3-1 CCC).
The first half was controlled by the Blue and Green as they outscored the Scots 6-1, led by Whitney with playmaking help by senior Callie Murphy (Woburn, Mass.). The Gulls opened up the half with five straight goals and not allowing Gordon to score until the 9:10 mark.
In the openings minutes Murphy started the scoring with help from senior Rachel Campos (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who tallied the assist. Two minutes later Thor hit her seventh goal of the season off a dish from Tierney. Whitney and Murphy went on their combo spree as Whitney scored three straight goals with Murphy adding the assist on all three making it a 5-0 score.
Finally with just over nine minutes to play in the half senior Anna Bloomberg (Simsbury, Conn.) ended the scoring lull for the Fighting Scots. To close out the half at 7:26 Thor tallied her second goal of the afternoon on an unassisted play to take a 6-1 lead entering halftime.
The second half showed a different Gordon team as they fought back scoring three goals in the half but with Endicott's four they were just edged. To open up the second, the Fighting Scots hit back to back goals to make it a three goal game. The first came from sophomore Bailey Grinnell (South Hamilton, Mass.) followed by a free position goal from tri-captain Stephanie Fitzgerald (Groveland, Mass.).
Tierney then answered back in the 22nd minute as they fired two straight goals to kick the lead back up to five. Gordon's senior Jan Dietrich (West Hartford, Conn.) tallied the final goal for the Fighting Scots at 14:05 cutting the lead in half at four. Tierney and Thor ended the half with insurance goals to secure the 10th straight victory over the North Shore Cup opponents.
Senior Ryan Socolow was solid between the pipes this afternoon earning eight saves as the goalkeeper moves to an impressive 9-1 overall record while counterpart senior Danielle Maguire (Braintree, Mass.) picked up three saves while falling to 8-2 on the season.
With the victory the Gulls remain one of two teams left in the CCC with an undefeated conference record with rivals, Western New England also holding a zero in loss column. The two will face on Tuesday, April 15th in Gulls territory at 4:00 p.m.
Until then, the Blue and Green will see action next on Wednesday, April 9th at 7:00 p.m. when they face their second ranked opponent of the season in #18 Tufts. Gordon will see play on Wednesday when they travel to CCC opponent the University of New England for a 4:00 p.m. start.
