Women’s Soccer Opens Homecoming with Conference Shutout

BEVERLY, Mass. -- In less than ideal conditions, the Endicott women's soccer team slogged out a 2-0 victory over University of New England on Friday night at Endicott Stadium to open Endicott Homecoming Weekend and pick up their first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) victory of the season.

Battling heavy rains throughout much of the game, the Gulls were able to hold a consistent offensive attack and the visiting Nor'easters could only weather the storm for so long.

Endicott senior forward Vanessa Caruccio (Winthrop, Mass.) tallied her third goal of the season just two minutes into the second half after the teams played to a scoreless stalemate through forty-five minutes.

First year Paige Marinelli (Burlington, Conn.) finished the scoring with just seconds left on the clock, finishing a breakaway along the left side with a rising shot that screamed over the head of UNE junior goalkeeper Samantha Guyette (Newport, Vt.). She took the pass from Nicole Fournier (Milford, Mass.), earning the junior her fifth assist of the year.

Endicott outshot their opponents 7-3 in each of the halves. They nearly got on the board in the first half through a brilliant effort by senior Chelsea Garlock (Meriden, Conn.), but Guyette was able to get a hand on the ball and direct it wide of the goal for a corner.

Garlock led the Gulls with three shots, two of them on goal as the Blue and Green held a six to three advantage in chances on frame. The Gulls also held the edge in corner kicks, 8-3.

Sophomore Jayne Kelly (Hooksett, N.H.) had two shots for UNE, who fall to 3-8, and see their CCC mark dip to 1-2. The Nor'easters had difficulty getting behind the Endicott back-line, and were caught offsides five times in the game. The Endicott defensive line had a strong game, including junior Madison Missinne (Ridgefield, Conn.), who earned her first start of the year and was exceptional along the left side.

Endicott sophomore net-minder Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) made three stops to earn her second shutout of the season.

Guyette made four stops in the game in a losing effort for UNE.

The Gulls improved on their all-time record against UNE, which now sits at 12-8-1, and continued a trend of the home team winning, which had held true for each of the previous five meetings.

Endicott will be on the road their next game, but only as far as Gordon. The Scots and Gulls will meet in a CCC clash on Wednesday October 3^rd at 3:30 PM.

UNE will stay in CCC play as well, travelling to Curry for a game that will start just a half hour later.