BEVERLY, Mass. – In the last regular season home game of the year, Endicott got goals from four different players en route to a 5-1 victory over Western New England in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) field hockey action Tuesday evening at North Field.
The Gulls, who outshot their opponents 31-6, improve to 12-4 while pushing their CCC mark to 8-1 and keeping pace at the top of the conference table.
It was a night of milestones and firsts for several players on the Endicott squad.
Reigning CCC Offensive Player of the Week Hannah Thornberg (Oakland, Maine) scored twice more, giving her seven goals and 15 points in her last three games. Thornberg, who just recently became the Endicott all-time career goals leader, has now tied the single-season goals record with her 19th and 20th tallies and has eclipsed the season points mark with 47 points on 20 goals and 7 assists so far this year.
In the 65th minute, Endicott junior defender Amanda Glynn, playing for the first time in a forward position, scored her first career goal, extending Endicott's lead to 5-1 and capping the evening's scoring.
Sophomore Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) netted her tenth goal of the season five and a half minutes into the game to put Endicott in front for the rest of the night. Six minutes later it was Sawchuck's classmate Kathryn Walker (Middlebury, Conn.) who doubled Endicott's advantage with her second goal of the year.
Thornberg opened the second half by potting a cross from junior Stacie Teevens (Westborough, Mass.) in the 43rd minute. Teevens collected her fourth assist of the year on the play.
The Golden B ears pulled a goal back in the 51st minute on a bullet from senior Lindsay Lalonde (Middlebury, Vt.), who stuck the ball into the far post from the left side of the net after she had inserted on a penalty corner.
It was a penalty corner for the Gulls just over three minutes later that gave Thornberg her second goal of the night and restored the Endicott lead to three goals. The Senior captain inserted and then was on the receiving end of a pass from sophomore Alyssa Clark (Gorham, Maine) as the ball came around the circle. Clark now has three assists on the season.
Senior goalkeeper Taylor Teixeira (Exeter, N.H.) played another solid game in net for the Gulls, making two stops.
The Gulls forced 17 saves out of Western New England senior goalkeeper Kaitlyn Hall (Pawtucket, R.I.), as Endicott dominated the attack, also winning 8 penalty corners to the Golden Bear's four. The Gulls had a 5-0 penalty corner edge in the first half.
"We're excited for a big win, which gives us good momentum heading into a pivotal contest on Saturday," said Endicott Head Coach Jodi Cipolla, who has her team positioned as a top seed in the CCC tournament which starts next week.
Cipolla is referring to the Gull's final regular season game of the year, which is indeed this Saturday at Nichols, who trails Endicott by one game in the CCC standings. That game is set for 11:00 AM in Dudley, Mass.
Western New England (5-13, 0-9 CCC) will return home for their final game of the year on Saturday, a 1:00 pm date with Gordon.
