April 25, 2009
BEVERLY, Mass. - Seniors Alex Pearce (Underhill, Vt.) and Rebecca Bushnell (Guilford, Conn.) combined to score nine goals to help lead Endicott to its second straight undefeated conference season, as the Gulls flew past Curry College, 17-8, on Senior Day in Beverly, Mass. With the win, Endicott closes out the regular season at 12-4 overall and 9-0 in TCCC play. Curry falls to 10-7 and 4-5 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference.
Endicott, which recognized an astounding 10 seniors on a roster that consists of 26 players, was quick out of the gate as the Gulls scored just 39 seconds into the game as Alex Pearce buried a sweeping bounce shot for the 1-0 lead. Carin Czerniawski (Monroe, Conn.) doubled the advantage just 2:47 later as she positioned a bouncer 5-hole off a free-position to put the Gulls ahead, 2-0.
Curry's Emily Summers (Kittery, Maine) helped the Colonels respond as she took a feed from a speedy Ashley Hansbury (Chelmsford, Mass.) in transition and planted a shot under the crossbar to cut the lead in half. Alex Pearce answered with her second of the day on a free-position opportunity, only to have Curry make it 4-2 with a Rachel Robichaud (Billerica, Mass.) strike.
Endicott began to pull away midway through the first half as the Gulls scored six of the next eight goals to glide into the intermission with a 9-4 lead. Molly Sowles (Cumberland, Maine) led the second half off with a goal, followed by back-to-back scores from Curry's Nikki MacKay (Framingham, Mass.). The consecutive goals sparked a feverous Endicott run, as the Gulls closed out the contest by outscoring Curry, 7-2.
Alex Pearce led the offensive effort for the Gulls as the senior closed out the day with five goals. Rebecca Bushnell scored four times while Sara Gunter (Kennebunk, Maine) had three tallies for the Blue and Green. Valerie Feldman (Albany, N.Y.) had a well-rounded two goals and two assists. Senior goalie Molly Hamel (North Yarmouth, Maine) made seven saves in the winning effort.
Curry got five points from Ashley Hansbury on two goals and three assists. Nikki MacKay ended the day with three goals while Summer and Robichau each scored once for the visitors. The Colonels used a pair of netminders in Kerri Shaw (Arlington, Mass.) and Maria Lynch (Billerica, Mass.), who combined for 15 saves.
Endicott will enter next week's The Commonwealth Coast Conference Tournament as the clear-cut No. 1 overall seed. The Gulls will host a Quarterfinal match-up on Tuesday afternoon against an opponent to be determined. Curry will also appear in the TCCC postseason, however the Colonels will be on the road as they limp into the playoffs having lost three of their last four games. Check back to www.ecgulls.com for tournament game time(s) and opponent(s) as they are announced later this weekend.
