BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott field hockey team hosted No.17 MIT on Thursday night for a non-conference matchup. Junior Emily Sawchuck (Cumberland, Maine) netted two goals in the contest but they were not enough as the Gulls fell to the Engineers 4-2. Endicott moves to 5-4, (2-0 CCC) while their counterparts stand at 8-0, (1-0 NEWMAC).
The first half showed an aggressive MIT squad that took 24 shots while the Gulls were held to seven. Endicott kept up with MIT by catching them in transition and creating plays in the 25. At 6:39 the Engineers got on the board after junior Caitlin Mackey (San Diego, Calif.) grabbed a rebound from senior Molly Duffy (New Providence, N.J.) and blasted it into the back of the net.
The Engineers would go 10 minutes until their next goal when junior Elizabeth Dethy (Morristown, N.J.) connected with the ball off a crisp pass from senior Maddy Wharton (Swarthmore, Pa.) to slip it past senior goalkeeper Lizetta Solarik (Carmel, N.Y.).
The Gulls were not shaken by the two goals and worked hard to create offensive opportunities. At 29:42 Sawchuck got the Blue and Green on the board after she collected a rebound off of sophomore goalkeeper Evie Kyritsis (Mountain Lakes, N.J.) and found the back of the net to make it a one goal game. Solarik was strong between the pipes making an impressive 14 saves while her teammate sophomore, Kristen O'Brien (New Boston, N.H.) made two defensive saves in her first half efforts.
The second half started off in a defensive battle as both sides pushed to keep the ball between the 25 yard lines. At 51:43 Duffy netted her 12th goal of the season after she took advantage of a defensive miscue in front of the cage and slipped the ball into the left corner to make it a two goal game.
The Blue and Green came back firing as Sawchuck and junior Kathryn Walker (Middlebury, Conn.) were ripping shots at net before senior Stacie Teevens (Westborough, Mass.) set up the perfect opportunity to get the Gulls a second goal. At 58:58 Teevens saw a pathway to reach Sawchuck, who was waiting near the right side post, she took a clean sweep and Sawchuck was able to connect and slip it past Kyritsis to get Endicott back in the game.
The Engineers saw their perfect record at stake and kept forcing opportunities in the offensive end. Less than two minutes after Sawchuck scored the Engineers added another tally to pull out of reach of the Gulls. Mackey made a great pass to find teammate, senior Michelle Teplensky (Somers, N.Y.) who threw a lifted shot and it soared over her old high school teammate, Solarik's head to add an insurance goal for the Engineers.
The goal only encouraged the Blue and Green as they worked to get another tally on the board but their efforts were not enough as the horn sounded to give the Engineers the victory 4-2. Overall the Gulls worked hard, especially on the defensive end. Solarik came away with 22 saves while in addition to O'Brien, O'Halloran and LeClair were also able to come up with a defensive save.
Endicott will look ahead to a CCC matchup on Saturday, September 28th as they head up the street to play cross-town rival Gordon at 11:00 am. The Engineers will look to continue their undefeated record as they travel to WPI on Saturday for a 10:00 am start.
