NEWTON, Mass. — The Endicott men's soccer team fell to NCAA Division I opponent Boston College (BC), 5-1, in a hard-fought matchup on Monday night at the Newton Soccer Complex.
Tonight's match marked the first regular season game against a Power 5 opponent in school history and first NCAA Division I opponent in program history.
Kyle Rosa (Norton, Mass.) shined in net for the Gulls despite the score as the sophomore keeper stopped five shots and made several strong plays off his line in the memorable contest.
Tied 0-0 late in the first half, Stefan Sigurdarson (Kopavogur, Iceland) broke open the deadlock in the 38th minute off a feed from Christian Bejar (Lawrence, Mass.).
After winning possession in his defensive end, Bejar sent a perfect through ball coast-to-coast up the pitch to Sigurdarson.
The 6-3 striker then split a pair of defenders at the top of 18 before finessing a bounding ball into the lower left corner of the net for his 10th of the season.
BC went on to score four more times in the second half, highlighted by pair of tallies from Sigurdarson (50', 70') to complete his first career hat trick.
Meanwhile, Codan Foley (Carver, Mass.) helped generate the lone tally for the Gulls (52:58) when his long throw-in resulted in a failed header clearance for an own goal.
Endicott also saw Joe Mepham (Sudbury, Mass.) nearly score at the 46:08 mark, while the team compiled two corners in the setback.
TOP QUOTES
"This was an incredible opportunity to play against one of the most prestigious academic and athletic programs in the country. We're thankful the Boston College coaching staff was willing to schedule this game. They were looking for a game against a quality Division III program to finish up their regular season and we couldn't pass up the opportunity to play against an ACC school," said Endicott men's soccer head coach Joe Calabrese.
"Our goal was to represent Endicott College as best as we could tonight. Their second goal inside the first minute of the second half was a bit deflating. At 2-0, Mepham scored a 1v1 with their goalkeeper to cut the lead in half. Certainly a small victory in scoring a goal on the road at BC. Our coaching staff is proud of the entire team. This game undoubtedly makes our program better in the future. Thank you to AD Brian Wylie, our SID department, and alumni for coming out to support us tonight," said Calabrese.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
- The Eagles are 4-2-3 at home this season.
- Sigurdarson leads the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) in goals with 12 this fall.
- Boston College has played some marquee programs in the ACC this season including No. 1 nationally ranked Clemson (2-1 loss), No. 25 Louisville (1-1 tie), No. 7 Duke (1-0 loss), and No. 10 Wake Forest (3-1 loss).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott (11-4-4) visits the University of New England tomorrow at 6:30 PM. Boston College (4-6-4) travels to Syracuse on Friday, October 28 at 7 PM. For the latest on Endicott Athletics, follow the Gulls on social media on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
(Photo Credit - Ryan Asia Atkins '23)
