2014 Endicott Women's Soccer Schedule
BEVERLY, Mass.- Heading into the program's 22nd season, the Endicott women's soccer team will be looking to repeat as Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) champions for the first time since 2007. The women will use a balanced schedule of tough non-conference opponents and gritty CCC foes to hopefully ready themselves for a CCC post season run for the 16th straight season.
The Gulls will kick off their 2014 campaign with a home match against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) on Sunday, August 31st, the first ever between the two programs. RPI ended 2014 with a .500 record after going 8-8-1 overall. The Engineers compete in the challenging Liberty League, a conference that saw their winner, Williams Smith, win the 2013 DIII National Championship. In Liberty League play, RPI posted a 3-5-0 record to finish just outside of the conference playoffs.
Endicott will then play twice in a four day stretch as they first travel across the harbor on Wednesday September 3rd to take on North Shore foe Salem State before returning home to take on the Owls of Keene State. The Gulls are 3-0-2 against the Vikings in the last five meetings as the two squads battled to a 1-1 tie after two overtime periods in 2013, the 16th meeting in the series. Following the match against Salem State, the Gulls will host Keene State, a team that finished ranked #8 in New England. The Saturday contest pits the Gulls against an Owls squad that posted an 18-5-1 record in 2013 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA DIII Tournament. The Owls edged Endicott 1-0 in early September before winning the Little East Conference title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament where they knocked off Haverford 2-0 before falling to Williams 3-0. Endicott is 1-7-0 all-time against Keene State with the lone win coming via a 3-1 decision in 2012 in the ECAC New England Semifinals.
A match against Smith on September 10th will serve as the final tune up before CCC play commences as Endicott plays host to the University of New England (UNE) on September 13th to kick off the conference slate. The Gulls defeated Smith 5-0 last season in the first ever meeting of the two programs. In the 2013 meeting between the Nor'Easters and Gulls, Endicott exploded offensively and posted an 8-1 victory.
The team then sees the next 10 matches alternate conference and non-conference until mid-October. The Gulls first play host to Wellesley on the 17th before heading on the road for back-to-back matches against Nichols on the 20th and Babson on September 23rd. Endicott is a combined 7-5-1 against the two NEWMAC foes and is 18-3-1 all-time against Nichols, with the last loss coming back in 2002. Over the 14 match win streak, the Gulls have out-scored the Bison 36-5.
In a mid-season matchup with potentially huge CCC implications, Endicott will play host to Roger Williams on homecoming weekend, September 27th. The Hawks, which ended the season ranked #10 in New England and as an ECAC semifinalist, come to Endicott looking to avenge last year's 2-1 double overtime loss to the Gulls.
Endicott remains home for a match against the Panthers of Plymouth state just two days later on Monday the 29th before prepping for a Saturday match at bitter CCC rival Gordon across town on October 4th. Endicott owns a 17 match unbeaten streak against Gordon, with the last loss coming in 2002. The Gulls have gone 15-0-2 against the Scots over the last 12 seasons, with last season pitting the North Shore rivals against each other twice. Endicott won the first meeting between the two squads 3-0 in late October before eking out the CCC title in penalty kicks in the conference championship.
In the middle of their three match road trip, the Gulls will travel to their lone NESCAC opponent in the regular season, the Jumbos of Tufts on October 7th. Tufts finished the 2013 season ranked #11 in New England and defeated the Gulls 3-0 on their way to a NESCAC semifinal appearance in which they fell to Middlebury 2-1. The Gulls also ended their season with a 2-1 loss to Middlebury, only in the NCAA Tournament second round.
The road trip concludes with a Saturday match on October 11th at Western New England, a team that notched their first win over the Gulls for the first time in their last nine attempts via a 1-0 decision. Endicott then looks forward to a three match home stand that welcomes the Beacons of UMass Boston, the Seahawks of Salve Regina and the Colonels of Curry to the Nest. UMass, who comes to Beverly on Tuesday, October 14th, is coming off of a 2013 campaign that saw the team post a 15-5 record overall and ended in the Little East semifinal. The Gulls and Beacons are an even 2-2 in the four match history. The Seahawks finished last season 3-14-1, with one of the losses being a 5-0 to Endicott. Curry, who will travel to Beverly on the 22nd, ended their 2013 campaign with a 6-11-2 record, with two of those losses being at the hands of the Gulls. Endicott defeated Curry 3-0 in regular season play before needing overtime to dispatch the Colonels 2-1 in CCC Quarterfinal action.
The Gulls will then take to the road for two CCC matches to end regular season play. Endicott will head to the Leopards of Wentorth on the 25th of October before heading to Eastern Nazarene on the 28th. The Gulls were able to post three goals against each opponent in two regular season wins before yet again needing overtime to dispatch of one in CCC post season play. The Gulls defeated Wentworth 1-0 in CCC semifinal action a month after posting a 3-1 victory at home.
The CCC tournament will begin on November 1st for the Quarterfinal Round while the Semifinals are set for November 5th and the Championship match slatted for November 8th.
