Women's Soccer Earns #5 Seed in ECAC Tournament
CENTERVILLE, Mass. – Endicott's women's soccer team (12-8-0) has earned the number five seed in the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III tournament. The Gulls will compete in the ECACs for the second year in a row, and will try to return to the championship game, where last year they were defeated by Keene State 3-1.
Endicott will travel to face the \#4 seed, UMass Boston, on Wednesday at 2:00 pm. The Beacons earned a berth to the ECAC tournament after posting a 13-6-2 record.
This is the third time that the Gulls will compete in the ECAC end of the year tournament, with the other coming in 2002.
The Gulls suffered an overtime defeat to Roger Williams in the finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament. The appearance marked the eleventh straight season that the Gulls have played in their women's soccer conference final. The Beacons defeated UMass Dartmouth 2-0 in the quarterfinals of the Little East Conference (LEC) tournament before falling to Keene State on penalty kicks in the conference semifinals.
Endicott will be led by senior captain and CCC Senior Scholar Athlete of the Year Colleen Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.). Pepin has scored 16 goals this year and has chipped in four assists for 36 points. The Gulls also look to sophomore Nicole Fournier (Milford, Mass.) (8 goals) for offense, while junior Vanessa Caruccio (Winthrop, Mass.) leads the team with six assists and two goals of her own. The Gull's back-line is anchored by CCC Defensive Player of the Year Caitlin Peters (Salem, N.H.). The junior co-captain has helped the Endicott defense hold opponents scoreless nine times.
UMass Boston is led offensively by Krista Ledin, who scored twenty goals and four assists. Ledin scored six game-winning goals and tallied hat tricks on four different occasions. It is no surprise that she leads the Little East Conference in shots, points, goals and game-winning goals. Also contributing to the scoresheet is Kristin Mulry (10 goals and 5 assists), while Tayla Andrews and Sam Cristoforo co-lead the team with six assists apiece.
In goal, the Beacons' Dani Perkins has let in just 14 shots in 21 games for a goals against average of 0.67. Perkins has made 73 stops and has posted 10 shutouts on the season. Perkins leads the LEC in goals against average and save percentage (.839).
The first-round winners will advance to the semifinals on Saturday, November 12 at the highest remaining seed after Wednesday's quarterfinal games. The winner of Worcester State/UNE will face the winner of UMass Boston/Endicott in one semifinal, and the winner of Keene State/Norwich will play the winner of Salve Regina/St. Joseph's (CT) in the other semifinal. The semifinal winners will meet Sunday, November 13 at for the championship.
2011 ECAC Division III New England Women's Soccer Championship
First Round – Wednesday, November 9
No. 8 Univ. of New England (12-2-3) at No. 1 Worcester State (13-5-1), TBD
No. 7 Norwich University (11-4-3) at No. 2 Keene State (13-7-2), 6:30 p.m.
No. 6 St. Joseph's College (CT) (12-6-2) at No. 3 Salve Regina (13-6-1), 1:00 p.m.
No. 5 Endicott College (12-7-0) at No. 4 UMass Boston (13-6-2), 2:00 p.m.
Semifinals – Saturday, November 12 at highest remaining seed after quarterfinal games
No. 1/No. 8 winner vs. No. 4/No. 5 winner, TBD
No. 2/No. 7 winner vs. No. 3/No. 6 winner, TBD
Championship - Sunday, November 13 at highest remaining seed after quarterfinal games
Two Semifinal Winners, TBA