BEVERLY, Mass.- At the Men's Soccer Homecoming night game, the University of New England was able to get two goals five minutes apart towards the end of the first half that put them ahead of Endicott for good. Endicott was able to counter four and a half minutes after the last UNE goal but couldn't find the net despite dominating the entire second half.
The Nor'Easters were able to score in the 31st and 35th minutes as Ethan Wells (Franconia, N.H.) and Will Bushey (South Portland, Maine) were able to put the visiting team up two by scoring less than four minutes apart from each other. Wells' first goal of the season came off of a cross from Ian Goodney (East Greenwich, R.I.). Goodney lobbed the ball into the box where it was met by a cluster of players from both teams. Somehow Wells was able to dig it out of the pile and bury it in the net to put the visitors up 1-0.
Less than five minutes later in the 35th minute, Will Bushey was able to take a long outlet feed from Michael Keenan Jr. (Middleton, Mass.) and beat the Endicott defender to the ball. With a quick shot he was able to put the Nor'Easters up 2-0.
Endicott would answer back in the 40th minute as Jordan Daniel was able to unleash an absolute cannon in the UNE box that was able to beat UNE's keeper Aidan McParland (Brockville, Ontario) to the lower right corner. Daniel's fifth goal of the season brought Endicott to within one with five minutes to go in the first half.
Endicott was quick to apply more pressure with a quality scoring chance. Ryan D'Amico (Marlborough, Conn.) was able to slip behind the UNE defense and grab the long pass for a breakaway. D'Amico side-stepped the defender and had just the goalie to beat as McParland charged the ball. A quick decision by D'Amico to snap off a low shot was thwarted as the keeper stepped up to make a huge save and keep the visitors on top 2-1 going into the break.
Endicott was a team on a mission as the second half got underway. The Gulls seemingly dominated the entire 45 minute frame but came away without the tying goal. Endicott took 32 total shots in the game with nine being on goal. UNE was only able to manage seven shots, three of which were on frame. The Gulls also kept the pressure on by getting it down low and making the defenders clear it out for an Endicott corner. Endicott was awarded 12 corners to UNE's one.
With the game seemingly taking place in the UNE box for the last ten minutes of the match, Endicott pushed forward to give it everything they had for the equalizer. Jordan Daniel, who was seemingly all over the field tonight, laced a shot that went screaming towards the frame. The ball rocketed off of the top cross bar and went straight down before it was launched out by a defender, never crossing the goal line. That would be the final and best quality scoring chance Endicott would record on the night though as the host Gulls fell to UNE by a 2-1 final.
UNE keeper Aidan McParland was able to record eight saves on the evening and improved his record to 5-5 as Daniel Higgins (South Kingstown, R.I.) recorded one save and saw his record fall to 3-3-2.
Endicott's overall record now stands at 5-5-2 (0-3) on the season while UNE advanced to 5-5 (1-2) on the season. The Gulls are off until Tuesday when they travel to Gordon for a big 7 p.m. conference match against their rivals. UNE is now off until Wednesday as they travel to Milton, Mass. to take on CCC opponent Curry at 6:30 p.m.
