Endicott beats Emmanuel 2-0 to reach ECAC Semifinals

BEVERLY, Mass. – The third-seeded Endicott women's soccer team advanced into the semifinal round of the ECAC DIII New England Tournament after defeating #6 Emmanuel (Mass.) 2-0 at Endicott Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

Endicott (12-5-4) moves on to face the winner of #7 Albertus Magnus at #2 Keene State to be played at 1:30 pm on Saturday.  The semifinal and championship rounds will be hosted by University of Saint Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut.  Emmanuel ends their 2012 campaign 13-7-1 with an appearance in the GNAC Semifinals.

The opening half saw the Gulls with three quality scoring opportunities as Endicott aimed to gain an early advantage over Emmanuel.  In the 10^th minute, the Blue and Green earned a corner kick taken by senior midfielder Micaela Hogan (Salisbury, Mass.) which found an unmarked LeeAnn Card (Paxton, Mass.) but Card's header sailed high. 

Midway through the half, Card had another spot to put Endicott on the scoreboard but her right-footed blast once again went over the crossbar and the match remained scoreless. 

Possibly Endicott's best opportunity of the first half came with just two minutes remaining as freshman forward Paige Marinelli (Burlington, Conn.) rocketed a shot off the chest of Saints senior goalie Jessica D'Ottavio (Pawling, N.Y.).  The rebound fell right to freshman Madison McKinley (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who buried her shot to the back of the net but the referee called offsides to negate the goal. 

Emmanuel nearly took the lead in the fifth minute of the match when a through ball found a wide open Meghan Zerba (Cumberland, R.I.) who found herself one-on-one with Gulls keeper Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.).  Zerba's shot, however, was saved by Donnelly to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

Early in the second half Endicott finally scored their first goal since the 74^th minute of their October 24^th match at Wentworth as freshman Rebecca Gustine (East Hampton, Conn.) scored her third goal of the season, assist Marinelli, to put the Gulls up 1-0.  The Blue and Green struck just 1:18 later, this time senior Chelsea Garlock (Meriden, Conn.) chased down a pass from McKinley and sent a low shot to the left corner of the net for her sixth tally of the fall season.  Endicott took a 2-0 lead and control of the match in the 56^th minute.

Between the posts, Donnelly made three saves in earning her ninth win of the season.  D'Ottavio made two saves and gave up two goals before giving way to freshman goalie Jenna Marcello (Hopedale, Mass.) who kept the game scoreless for the rest of the second half. 

Endicott outshot the Saints 15-6 in the match and took nine corners to Emmanuel's three.  Both teams committed seven fouls.  Endicott was found offsides eight times compared to just two for Emmanuel.