Dominant Second Half Leads Gulls to 2-0 Win Over Nor'Easters

BIDDEFORD, Maine - The Endicott women's soccer team traveled north to take on the University of New England in the final regular season match of the fall and returned home with an emphatic 2-0 win. The victory elevates Endicott to 9-4-5 overall and 3-2-4 in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) play while the loss drops UNE to 9-5-3 overall and 4-2-3 in CCC play.

The first half saw the Gulls hold the edge in shots (5-4) and corners (2-0), while both teams made two saves in the opening 45 minutes of play. At halftime, the score would stand tied at 0-0.

Endicott came out in the second half and applied offensive pressure throughout, eventually out-shooting the hosts 10-3 in the frame. The 10 shots would result in the Gulls netting two strikes, the first of which came off the foot of Morgan Hubert (Southington, Conn.), as the sophomore broke the tie just 1:30 into the second half. Hubert was able to gather a pass from Madison Webster (Middletown, Conn.), and beat the Nor'Easter keeper to give the Gulls the 1-0 edge. 

The Blue and Green continued to apply pressure in the offensive end and it paid off in the 76th minute when Riley Rischitelli (North Brookfield, Mass.) doubled the Endicott lead to 2-0. Rischitelli was able to beat UNE's keeper high and away at the 75:04 mark, with the assist going to Ella Morgan (Salem, Mass.). 

The Gulls would maintain the 2-0 lead to the final whistle, for their second straight win over UNE.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• With the win, the Gulls improve to 18-12-1 all-time against UNE, as the Gulls have won five of the last seven meetings.
• Hubert and Rischitelli are now tied for second on the team with four goals each.
• Webster's assist on Hubert's goal was her first of the season and the first of the defender's career.
• Jacqueline Ruggiero (Dedham, Mass.) made four saves to earn her seventh win and eighth shutout of the season.

WHAT'S NEXT

Both teams now await the release of the bracket for the CCC playoffs which will get underway with the quarterfinal round being hosted by the four highest seeds this coming Saturday. 

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(Photo Credit - David Le '10)