BEVERLY, Mass.- In a rematch of last postseason's match-up between Endicott and Wentworth women's soccer teams, the visiting Leopards stunned the Gulls and claimed a 4-2 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinal victory. With the victory, #7 Wentworth advances to the CCC Semifinals to play #3 Eastern Nazarene while #2 Endicott ends their CCC run and awaits a potential post season berth.
The back and forth affair got off to a quick start in the ninth minute when Wentworth's Olivia Moore (Salem, Conn.) worked a beautiful play on the right side of the box with Valeria Zapata (Pawtucket, R.I.) that resulted in Zapata leaving the ball mid-stride for Moore who buried the one-timer past Endicott keeper Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) to give Wentworth the 1-0 lead. This would be the start of a monster day for Moore as the senior would net three of the four Wentworth goals in the match.
Both sides would continue to battle the elements and counter the others' attack until the 21st minute when LeeAnn Card (Paxton, Mass.) nearly evened the score. Card took a feed from the left of the box and lifted a shot that edged just over the cross to keep the Gulls off the board and trailing 1-0.
Endicott would proceed to dominate the remaining time in the first, receiving seven corners to one for Wentworth, and registering 11 shots to five. The 11th shot of the period provided the equalizer as Taylor Geas (Somers, Conn.) registered her second goal of the season with just 0:00.3 remaining on the clock. Geas corralled an attempted clear from Wentworth at the top right corner of the box with six seconds on the clock and turned to loft a shot to the upper left corner of the Wentworth net. A diving attempt by Wentworth keeper Nicole Leahey (Warwick, R.I.) was unsuccessful as the Gulls evened the score at 1-1 to seemingly grab momentum heading into the second half.
The intensity elevated in the second half as both teams came out flying around the field with a CCC Semifinal appearance on the line. Wentworth would capitalize on an Endicott miscue in the 51st minute when Mary Pastorelli (Whitesboro, N.Y.) lofted a free kick from 35 yards out into the box that deflected off an Endicott defender's head and over Donnelly to make it a 2-1 score.
The Gulls would show resiliency as Geas again rose to the occasion, making a beautiful move on the right side to cut inside one defender and snap off a hard shot that beat Leahey to the top right corner to even the score at 2-2. The goal, Geas' second of the match, was also her third of the season and came just two minutes after Wentworth scored.
Wentworth countered quickly and were awarded a penalty kick following an Endicott foul in the box. Olivia Moore was chosen to take the kick and beat Donnelly to the lower left corner to lift the visitors to a 3-2 lead, one they wouldn't relinquish for the remainder of the match.
Moore would net her third of the day in the 72nd minute to give the Leopards an insurance goal and increase the lead to two at 4-2. Moore was able to strip the Endicott defense of possession on the top right corner of the box and immediately laced a rising liner across the face of the goal and to the left upper corner to beat Donnelly for the final tally of the match for either side. Moore's third of the day gives her seven on the season as the team will travel to Eastern Nazarene on Tuesday at a time that is still to be determined.
For the match, Endicott out-shot Wentworth 21-13 and received 11 corners to one for the visitors. Of the 21 Endicott shots, nine were on goal, forcing Leahey to make seven saves while seven of Wentworth's shots were on goal as Donnelly made three saves. With the win, Wentworth (9-8-2, 3-5-1 CCC) now advances to play #3 Eastern Nazarene (9-9-1, 6-3 CCC) on Tuesday. Endicott (10-5-4, 6-2-1 CCC) ends their CCC postseason run and hopes for a post season berth to be announced at a later date.
