Gulls Dispatch Golden Bears to Return to CCC Finals

BEVERLY, Mass. – The fourth seeded Endicott women's soccer team earned a return trip to the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament finals on Wednesday afternoon by defeating the Golden Bears of Western New England University 1-0 at Endicott Stadium. The Gulls will make their eleventh straight appearance in the finals of the conference tournament, and have missed the final just once in the past fifteen seasons.

Micaela Hogan (Salisbury, Mass.) scored her first goal of the season in the 64^th minute to provide the only offense Endicott would need. Hogan received a beautiful pass down the left side of the field on a free kick from junior captain Caitlin Peters (Salem, N.H.) and lifted it into the far corner of the net. Peters, the CCC Defensive Player of the Year, picked up her second assist of the year.

Chances to score were plentiful for Endicott, who outshot their opponents 20-2 and had a 10-1 advantage in kicks from the corner flag. Hogan nearly got on the board in the 26^th minute when a corner kick fell to her in the box. She spun and fired at the left corner of the net, but the ball was cleared off the line by WNE freshman defender Gabrielle Bates (Wilbraham, Mass.).

Less than a minute later, Chelsea Garlock (Meriden, Conn.) had another great chance to put the Gulls into the lead. The junior forward sent an arcing shot at the top corner of the goal from past the 18 yard line. Sophomore goalie Victoria Trezise (Islip, N.Y.) dove at full extension and tipped the ball over the bar to keep the game scoreless.

Trezise played superbly in net for the visitors, making four saves, including another spectacular stop just before halftime, getting her foot on a point-blank breakaway effort by Endicott senior Colleen Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.). Pepin had ten shots in the game but was unable to extend her team leading tally of 16 goals.

Sophomores Nicole Fournier (Milford, Mass.) and Heather Moody (Dunstable, Mass.) had chances to score late in the second half, as did Pepin. Freshman Tayler Mazurski (Wolcott, Conn.) had the only shot on goal for the Golden Bears, forcing an easy save out of Natalie Wyrsch (Dover, N.H.). The Endicott sophomore goalkeeper picked up her fifth shutout of the season.

Endicott (12-7) will try to win their 10^th conference championship on Saturday in a rematch of last season's final. The Gulls will travel to Bristol, R.I. to face the \#2 seeded Roger Williams Hawks at 1:00 pm. RWU ended Endicott's run in last year's final with a penalty kick victory.

The Golden Bears see their season come to an end after a 4-14-3 campaign that included an enormous upset of top-seeded University of New England in the quarterfinals of the CCC tournament.