DUDLEY, Mass. – For the fourth time under head coach Jodi Cipolla, the Endicott field hockey team will enter the CCC Tournament as the top seed after ending the regular season with a 4-3 victory over Nichols. The Gulls erased an early two-goal deficit to the Bison thanks to four straight tallies, all by different scorers, to head into the tournament with a 13-4 (9-1 CCC) record.
Nichols (12-7, 7-3 CCC) needed to beat Endicott by a goal differential larger than three to overtake the top seed according to the CCC's tiebreaker policy. With two regular season games left to be played, Endicott will not know their semifinal opponent until later Saturday afternoon.
Nichols quickly went ahead in the third minute of the game after junior Amanda Broughton (Plymouth, Mass.) scored her fifth goal of the season to put the Bison ahead 1-0. Under 20 minutes later Nichols struck again on another unassisted tally, this time by senior Emily Widdison (Greenfield, Mass.) whose conference-leading 23rd goal of the season created an early 2-0 hole for the Blue and Green.
Endicott's own season-leading and program-leading goal scorer, senior forward Hannah Thornberg (Oakland, Maine) finished a pass across the goal line from sophomore Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) for her 21st of the year, trimming the Nichols lead down to one at 2-1 at the 24:59 mark of the first half.
At 27:26 following a defensive save by Bison sophomore Kaylee McNamara (Watertown, Mass.), the Gulls were awarded a penalty stroke which was buried by senior Cassie DeSimone (Reading, Mass.) to even the score at 2-2. DeSimone's goal was her second of the season.
Endicott took the lead going into the break with just over a minute and a half remaining in the opening period when Sawchuck scored her 11th goal of the season on a high shot off a rebound. The Gulls went into the break up 3-2.
In the first half, Endicott senior goalie Taylor Teixeira (Exeter, N.H.) was under heavy fire from the Nichols offensive as she forced to make nine of her 12 saves in the first 35 minutes. Nichols took 14 shots in the first half, compared to just eight by Endicott.
In the second half, the Gulls turned the tide by outshooting the opposing 20-7 but managed just one goal, an unassisted score by sophomore Kathryn Walker (Middlebury, Conn.) in the 61st minute for the game-winner. The Bison scored as time expired, but Endicott's two-goal lead was enough to get them the win.
Endicott held a slim 14-12 advantage in penalty corners and an overall 28-21 lead in shots taken. Teixeira improved to 13-4 on the year after making 12 saves in the cage.
