SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- For the second straight week, two Endicott players have been named Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Defensive and Offensive Players of the Week. This comes after goalkeeper Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) received defensive honors for the third straight week and Taylor Geas (Somers, Conn.) received offensive honors for the first time in her career. Both players' performances were critical in helping extend Endicott's win streak to seven as the team won three contests on the week. The Gulls started the week with a 2-1 overtime victory over Babson. That match was followed up with a 3-1 win over CCC foe Wentworth before Endicott then ended their week with a 2-0 win over Plymouth State on Sunday.
Geas received her first CCC Offensive Player of the Week honors after a week in which she netted her first two goals of the season. In the first match of the week, the Gulls were able to hand Babson its first loss of the season as the Beavers entered the match 6-0-1. On the year, Babson had allowed just three goals in seven games while recording five shutouts. With the match tied at 1-1 and in overtime, Geas took a shot from the right hand side of the box that beat the Babson keeper with 34 seconds left on the clock. The goal, Geas' first of the season, would be the first of two game winners on the week as she repeated her performance the very next match. Against Wentworth, the Gulls were tied with the Leopards at 1-1 before Geas registered a beautiful header off of a corner kick that beat the keeper to put Endicott on top for good, 2-1. Behind Geas' second game winning goal in as many matches, the Gulls would go on to win 3-1.
Donnelly, who has improved her record to 7-3-1 over the win streak, won her third straight CCC Defensive Player of the Week honors after the 3-0 week in which the team allowed just two goals while scoring seven. Against Babson, Donnelly made four saves as she held the Beaver offense to just one goal, well below their 2.71 goals/game average coming into the matchup. The junior then followed that performance up with a six save effort against Wentworth in a 3-1 win. The six saves tied for the second highest total of the season. Donnelly then closed the week with a shutout of Plymouth State, her third of the year. Donnelly has now lowered her goals against average to 0.81 on the season, good enough for third in the CCC.
Geas, Donnelly and the rest of the Gulls return to action on Saturday evening when they host CCC foe WNE as part of Homecoming Weekend at Endicott. The match is slated for a 4:30 p.m. start time.
