BEVERLY, Mass.- As the 2013-14 academic year comes to a close, so does the four year athletic careers for the senior class. Over the next five days leading up to graduation, we will be listing five great moments by seniors from the past four years to honor the time, effort and commitment put forth by the graduating 139 student-athletes. To lead off our moments, we have chosen the five game winning or walk-off performances by seniors in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Playoff or NCAA Tournament games.
Women’s soccer, who represents our first two moments, is the lone team with two game winners by seniors in playoff games, the second of which clinched the Championship. The first moment on our list is Heather Moody’s game winning overtime goal against Wentworth in the CCC Semifinal match. After 90 minutes of brutal playoff intensity play, the Gulls and Leopard embarked on a ten minute overtime period. With just 20 seconds remaining on the clock, Moody would tally her first game winning goal of the season and put the Gulls through to the CCC Championship match against Gordon. The CCC Championship match is where the second women’s soccer moment happened, as Sarah Person provided our second moment late in the fall. With Endicott and Gordon deadlocked at 0-0 after 110 minutes of regulation and overtime play, the match was to be decided on penalty kicks. With a 2-1 advantage in kicks and the ability to clinch with a make, CCC Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year Sarah Person stepped to the line and buried her attempt. The senior sealed the title for Endicott, the first for the senior class and tenth in program history.
Travis Netherton of the men’s volleyball team represents the lists’ lone NCAA Tournament walk-off victory. The Gulls, who had won the right to host the first round of the NCAA Tournament and with it, the right to host nationally ranked #6 MIT, saw a 2-0 lead rapidly slipping away before the team rallied for a comeback of the ages. Endicott, who had won the first two sets, was down 24-13 in the third set and a fourth frame seemed all but certain. The Gulls would chip away slowly, forcing MIT to take timeouts at 24-19 and 24-22 before taking the lead at 25-24. MIT would fight back to tie it at 25-25 before the Gulls regained the lead for good at 26-25 off of a MIT hitting error. With match point on the line, an overpass helped Endicott run their offense as Netherton turned his swing perfectly around the block to give him his team leading ninth kill and send the Gulls to the NCAA Quarterfinals.
The fourth moment goes to golf’s Nick Erlichman whose monstrous second day performance lifted the Gulls to victory and with it, to the NCAA Tournament. After posting an individual round of 82 on the first day of the CCC Championship and with the team sitting seven strokes back of the lead, Erlichman knew that he would have to have a big second day to help the Gulls get into contention. The senior would post six birdies on the second day that included four straight from the 8th through 11th holes, and closed emphatically with a birdie on the par-4 18th, a 403 yard hole, to post a round of 71. Erlichman's 71, which was the lowest Endicott round for the Championship and second lowest round by any golfer overall, won the tie-breaker with Western New England and gave the Gulls their third straight CCC Title and first ever NCAA Tournament bid.
The fifth and final walk-off senior performance from the 2013-14 year goes to Callie Murphy of the women’s lacrosse team for her assist on the game winning goal in the CCC Championship game. Murphy finished the game as the team’s leader in goals (4) assists (4) and points (8), but it was her effort in the final 20 seconds that was most impressive. Her fourth goal of the game with 19 seconds on the clock tied the game at 13-13. Endicott would then win the draw control and get the ball into Murphy’s control as the clock rapidly counted down. As time was about to expire, Murphy found Siri Mason cutting in front of the net and assisted on what would be the game winning goal with 0.4 seconds left on the clock. The assist gave her two points in the final 19 seconds of action and helped elevate the Gulls to the CCC title, the ninth consecutive for the team
