BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team played host to Mass. Dartmouth on Tuesday night for a non-conference matchup. Junior Adbulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) scored his second goal of the season off a free kick in the first half to score the lone goal of the evening to give the Blue and Green the 1-0 victory. Endicott moves to 6-5, (2-1 CCC) while their opponents fall to 5-3, (1-1 LEC).
The first half was an offensive battle, as the Corsairs led the Gulls in shots 8-5. Dartmouth had a big opportunity to get on the board early when senior Victor Ferreira (St. Michael's, Portugal) ripped a shot that bounced right off the cross bar to his teammate, senior Adam Philbrin (Cumberland, R.I.). Philbrin then tried to find the back of the net but sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) was able to come up with the save.
The Corsairs kept sending them towards Peluso but he was able to make five saves in the half to keep them off the board. The same could not be said for Dartmouth and freshman goalkeeper Andrew Deane (Woburn, Mass.). At 35:09 the Gulls were awarded a free kick after a Dartmouth foul. Al Khalifa lined up to take the kick at the 18 on the left side and found a small gap to the left to sneak it past four defenders and Deane. The shot for Al Khalifa was at a very low percentage scoring opportunity but he was right on the money as he let it fly into the back of the net. The Blue and Green entered halftime with the lead at 1-0.
When the second frame started both squads picked right back up where they left off, battling in the offensive zones. Freshman goalkeeper Luis Carranza (New Bedford, Mass.) started the frame for the Corsairs to relieve Deane, and Endicott did not let him off easy letting off nine shots.
Offensively senior Ryan D'Amico gave the Gulls a second wind in the frame coming in off the bench and creating big opportunities in the final third, while taking four shots of his own. Seniors Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.) and Bobby Durben (Stow, Mass.) were also a force on the offensive zone creating dangerous plays. Durben took a great shot at 58:59, but Carranaza was able to come up with the save to keep his squad in the game. Minutes later Jorge attempted to tally another goal for the Blue and Green, but again Carranza was able to deflect the ball and stop the play.
In the final minutes the Corsairs were sending ball after ball into their offensive end keeping Peluso and his defensive unit on their toes. At 77:15 they were awarded a penalty kick off of a Gulls foul in the box. Junior Josh Chao (New Bedford, Mass.) lined up to take the shot for Dartmouth. Chao kicked the ball to the right and it bounced off the post and Endicott was able to come up with the ball and take away the best scoring opportunity of the night for the Corsairs. At 87:05 Ferreira had another big opportunity when he took a point-blank shot at goal from about 7 yards out but Peluso came out and made his biggest save of the night catching the ball and ending the dangerous play.
The Gulls were strong in all aspects of the field this evening and came out with the big win as a team. Peluso ended the game with eight saves while his counterparts combined four.
The Gulls will look ahead to an exciting homecoming weekend match on Saturday, October 5th as they host CCC opponent Western New England for a game under the lights at 7:00 p.m. The Corsairs will look to Saturday as well where they host conference opponent Southern Maine for a 2:30 p.m. start.
