Beverly, Mass. – Endicott hosted William Paterson on Saturday afternoon for the Endicott Gulls Invitational Championship match. Despite their efforts the Gulls fell to the Pioneers in the 95th minute of play. Freshman Edwin Demoya (Salem, Mass.) worked hard in front of the net having two shots that hit the cross bar in the second half. Endicott now stands at 1-1-0 while the Pioneers are starting their season at 2-0-0.
The first half was scoreless for both teams despite their efforts. Endicott forced seven shots, and had opportunities by senior Alex Elia (Somers, Conn.) who blasted a shot towards goal but Matt Hernandez (Fort Lee, N.J.) was able to make the save and junior Jed Magnusson (Kingston, N.H.) attempted to put the Gulls on the board after taking a shot about 10 yards out but was stopped again by Hernandez. William Paterson kept sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) busy forcing six shots. In the final minutes of the half junior Omar Jallow (Union City, N.J.) sent one towards the net but Peluso was able to complete the save to keep the game scoreless going into halftime.
Endicott came out firing in the second half with efforts by Demoya who gave the Gulls a lot of chances to get a tally on the board. In the 58th minute of play the Gulls had three opportunities that the Pioneers managed to stop. Junior Connor Gibbs (Westborough, Mass.) shot a rocket toward goal but was blocked. Less than a minute later sophomore Kyle Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) kept Hernandez on his toes taking a shot and Demoya picked up the rebound and put one just a little high and it hit the cross bar.
William Paterson did not back down and kept the Endicott defense alert. Peluso made four saves in the second half alone. The Pioneers forced a few big shot opportunities by sophomore Jason Padilla (West Orange, N.J.), senior Hugh Riley (Tinton Falls, N.J.) and junior Marcus Hackett (Montclair, N.J.) but all were unsuccessful. The second half ended as the first half did, scoreless and forced the game into overtime.
Overtime for the both teams was quiet with only two shots on goal. Peluso made a big save in the 92nd minute but the Gulls were unable to get a shot on net. In the 95th minute the Pioneers earned a free kick off an Endicott foul and senior Matt Nigro (Morganville, N.J.) took the kick and created a cross to sophomore Mike Conte (Franklin, N.J.) who was able to just get his head on the ball to bank it into the top left corner for the win.
The Endicott Gulls Invitational hosted three institutions this weekend, SUNY Purchase, Thomas College, and William Paterson. The Gulls forced an overtime win on Friday night against Purchase to earn the spot in tonight's championship match up against William Paterson. The Gulls claimed second place in the inaugural season tournament and they look to next week where they will hit the road to Rivier on September 4th at 7:00 PM.
