KEENE, N.H. - The Endicott women's soccer team hit the road on Saturday afternoon to play Keene State. The Owls kept junior goalkeeper Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) very busy as she recorded nine saves, which marks her second best save total in her career. The Gulls gave strong efforts but could not recover from a late Owls goal. Endicott now stands at 0-3-1 while Keene moves to 2-1.
Keene forced 11 shots in the first half keeping the Gulls defense on their toes. In the first 10 minutes the Owls took four consecutive shots that the Blue and Green were able to fend off. Sophomore Ashley Mueskes (Georgetown, Mass.) took a shot on net in the opening minutes but could not get it by junior goalkeeper Victoria Crenson (North Salem, N.Y.). Endicott took four shots in the first half but none were successful. Due to determination of both goalkeepers neither team could get on the board as the first frame came to an end in a stalemate.
The second half displayed more big saves for Donnelly as the Owls took three shots in the opening minutes that she was able to deflect and keep the match scoreless. The first shot attempt came from senior Kara Pavlidis (Lee, N.H.) as she came down on a breakaway when Donnelly stepped up to make the sliding save to stop the play. The second and third attempts were back to back shots starting when senior Jessica Berthiamue (Worcester, Mass.) blasted a shot from 20 yards out to the left corner forcing Donnelly to making a reaching save. Senior Hayley Kenyon (Exeter, R.I.) gave it right back as she took the rebound and tried for the left corner but again Donnelly came up big and shut down the pressure. Endicott was held to only two shots in the second half coming from senior Allison Ferro (Shelton, Conn.) and sophomore Mueskes.
Both sides fought tooth and nail to be the first on the board but most of the second half was scoreless. As regulation was creeping up on the squads at 77:40 the Owls drew the game winning goal to take the lead after senior Brittany Boscarino (Ellington, Conn.) was able to finally sneak one past Donnelly. Keene took a few more shots in the half but Donnelly was able to keep the lead just to one. Despite their efforts the Gulls struggled the get on the board and head home with the loss.
The Blue and Green look to September 10th where they are on the road again at Lasell College for a 4:00 PM start and will meet recent alumni Christine Silva '13 who is now an Assistant Coach for the Lasers.
