Gulls Blank CCC Opponent Salve Regina in 1-0 Victory

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team hosted Salve Regina on Saturday afternoon for a Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) matchup. Freshman Conner Couchot (Mason, Ohio) tallied the lone goal in the match to lift the Gulls to a 1-0 victory. Endicott improves to 7-6-2 (2-2-2 CCC) while the Seahawks fall to 6-8 (3-3 CCC).

The Gulls will take the field next on Wednesday, October 22^nd as they host Curry for a CCC showdown and a Senior Day celebration at 7:00 p.m. at Endicott Stadium. The Seahawks will also play Wednesday night as they travel to the University of New England for a conference matchup.

The first half was a battle as the Blue and Green just outshot the Seahawks 9-6 while earning four penalty corners and holding Salve Regina to zero.

The Gulls came out fighting in the opening 20 minute of play earning two corner kicks and taking three key shots. In the 14^th minute junior Kyle Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) went for a solid header off a corner kick that just soared wide left. One minute later senior Diego Slobotzky (Mexico City, Mexico) followed with a good blast that just fell to the right.

In the 18^th minute the Gulls had their best chance at a tally as Slobotzky went for goal again as he sent a header to the top corner off a feed from Bisceglia but it just soared high.

With the momentum in their favor the Blue and Green kept chugging in the final third. After many efforts in the 31^st minute Endicott finally broke the ice off a corner kick by junior Shintaroh Itoh (Tokyo, Japan). Itoh took the kick and sent it across cage to find Couchot who leaped up for the header that found the back of the net. The goal marked the first for the rookie in a Blue and Green uniform as the Gulls took a 1-0 lead.

Endicott had a few more opportunities for the remaining 14 minutes of play but could not capitalize as they headed into halftime with the one goal advantage.

In the opening minutes of the half the Seahawks put senior goalkeeper, Alex Jorge to work after senior Alec Shuman (Pompton Plains, N.Y.) ripped a shot at goal but Jorge was able to make the diving save to keep the Seahawks off the board.

With 12 minutes to go in the second half Slobotzky had a great opportunity to get a security goal for the Blue and Green as he controlled the ball inside the box and made a couple eliminations moves before ripping a shot to the far right corner but junior goalkeeper Daniel Stern (Kings Park, N.Y.) was able to make the diving save.

The Blue and Green would keep working the final third with key shots from junior Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) and Slobotzky but Stern managed to keep the second half scoreless. However the one goal could be all Endicott needed as they secured the 1-0 victory.

Jorge walked away with his fifth shutout on the victory with his four saves while his counterpart, Sterm walked away with three in the tight match.