Rizzo Blast Sees Gulls Victorious in OT Thriller

BEVERLY, Mass.-  The Gulls were able to record a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Panthers of Purchase in double overtime on Friday night.  With 4.6 seconds remaining in the second OT frame, Zach Rizzo (Redding, Conn.) blasted a one timer to the lower left corner and past the outstretched arms of Purchase's keeper Esteban Aguilar (East Hampton, N.Y.) to lift the Gulls to victory.  With this being the first contest of the 2013 season for both squads, Endicott improved to 1-0-0 while Purchase fell to 0-1-0.  Purchase now plays Thomas tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.  Thomas also fell in overtime, losing to William Paterson 3-2.

The first half saw the two teams play a scoreless frame although Endicott was able to generate eight shots to Purchase's one.  Both keepers, Aguilar and Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) made a save in the first frame while Endicott held the advantage in corners, three to one and fouls, three to two. 

With the stats and momentum seemingly favoring Endicott, Purchase was able to capitalize on a foul in the box in the 47^th minute.  Junior Sanguina (White Plains, N.Y.) lined up the penalty shot and stuck it in the top right corner to beat Pelluso and give the Panthers the 1-0 lead.

"Coach Bruno had Purchase extremely organized defensively and we struggled to break them down when we gained possession which caused the speed of play to just not be fast enough," stated Endicott head coach Joe Calabrese.  "We didn't play with any urgency on attack until we conceded the PK and Purchase got the 1-0 lead."

Over the course of the next 20 minutes, Endicott's constant pressure in the offensive end eventually wore the Panthers down and the Gulls were able to net their first goal.  "We had a great equalizer from Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.) to bring it to 1-1 and the response going into time was unbelievable," said Calabrese.  Sophomore Zach Rizzo took a feed and beat his defender to a high bouncing ball and flicked his header towards frame where Jorge was waiting.  Jorge used his height to get his head on the ball and flick an arcing header on goal that looped right over the outstretched fingers of Aguilar to knot the game at 1-1.

That momentum seemed to be all the Gulls needed as their pressure up front kept the majority of the game in the Panthers' defensive zone as they managed an impressive 12 shots to just two for Purchase in the frame.  The game would remain knotted at 1-1 however and both teams would square up for overtime. 

The overtime period was a battle back and forth that saw Endicott again hold the advantage in shots, six to zero.  Aguilar made some impressive athletic saves  to keep the game tied at one.  With the clock running down in the first OT period, junior Abdullah Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) blasted a free kick from the top of the box that caromed off the cross bar and found the foot of Rizzo.  Rizzo was able to tee up a one timer that his coach described as, "just a cracker of a goal from Rizzo."  The shot rifled past the diving Aguilar and found the lower left corner of the net with just 4.6 seconds remaining. 

Aguilar was impressive in net as he made seven saves throughout the evening.  Peluso, while not tested too much, was able to record two big saves that kept the team in the match.  Alex Elia (Somers, Conn.) was able to constantly pepper the box with his crosses and was active in the offensive end as he registered eight shots.  Assists on the night went to Rizzo and Al Khalifa respectively.  With the win, Endicott now moves on to play host to William Paterson in the title match to be played at 4 p.m.