No. 1 Gulls Advance To ECAC Semifinals With 4-1 Victory Over No. 8 Mount Ida Mustangs

ECAC DIII NEW ENGLAND MEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP RELEASE 

ECAC DIII NEW ENGLAND CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

BEVERLY, Mass. – The Endicott men's soccer team downed visiting Mount Ida College, 4-1, Wednesday night in ECAC DIII New England Quarterfinal action at Hempstead Stadium to advance to the ECAC Semifinals.

With the win, Endicott improved to 16-2-3 overall, while Mount Ida's season ends at 12-7-1.

The Gulls outshot the Mustangs, 22-7, on a cold night that saw Endicott take an aggressive approach right from the start.

Senior forward Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) found the back of the net early with a header off a throw in from freshman back Bobby Ivatts (Walpole, Mass.) to give the Gulls a quick strike just 2:08 into the match.

Endicott went into halftime up 2-0 thanks to senior forward Diego Slobotzky's (Mexico City, Mexico) boot into the back right off a corner kick taken by senior midfielder Shintaroh Itoh (Nerima, Tokyo, Japan).

Senior forward/midfielder Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) cut the deficit to 2-1 in the 66th minute on a breakaway on a pass from freshman forward/back Jordain Williams (Colchester, Vt.), but the Gulls were quick to sound the horn less than 30 seconds later with another Al Khalifa goal.

Sophomore back Brayden Nielsen (Essex Junction, Vt.) rounded out the scoring with a shot to the back right past a diving goalkeeper in the 88th minute to send the Gulls into the ECAC Semifinals on Saturday.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• This was the first meeting between the two teams in program history.
• Junior goalkeeper Nick Weinstein (Trumbull, Conn.) registered one save in the match as he improved to 16-2-2 on the season.
• Al Khalifa registered his tenth and eleventh goals of the season to lead the team in scoring.
• Al Khalifa has scored twice in a single match for the third time this season, but it was his first match of the season adding an assist to his points total in a single match.
• Slobotzky tallied his eighth goal of the year.
• Itoh added another assist to bring his team-leading season total to nine.
• Lambert and Ivatts picked up the first assists of their collegiate careers.
• Nielsen netted the first goal of his collegiate career.

FOR THE FOES

• Senior midfielder/forward Carlos Martinez (Chelsea, Mass.) scored his 10th goal of the season.
• Freshman forward/back Jordain Williams (Colchester, Vt.) recorded his team-leading seventh assist of the season.
• Sophomore goalkeeper Riley Ford (Guilderland, N.Y.) (10-7-1) made nine saves in the defeat.

NOTES

• 16 wins in a single season is a new program record for the Gulls.

WHAT'S NEXT

Endicott (16-2-3) will face No. 4 Castleton (15-5-2) on Saturday, November 14 at Hempstead Stadium in the ECAC Semifinals at a time to be announced. Mount Ida's season comes to an end.

2015 ECAC Division III New England Men's Soccer Tournament

Quarterfinals • Wednesday, November 11
 #1 Endicott 4, #8 Mount Ida 1
#2 Wentworth 4, #7 Norwich 2
#3 Springfield 4, #6 Colby-Sawyer 1 
#4 Castleton 2, #5 Western New England 1 (OT)

Semifinals • Saturday, November 14*
#4 Castleton vs #1 Endicott, TBD
#3 Springfield vs. #2 Wentworth, TBD

Championship Game • Sunday, November 15*
Semifinal Winners, TBD

*Both the semifinals and championship will be hosted at Endicott. 

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