Women's Soccer Heading to CCC Championship After 5-3 Finish in PK's

WENHAM, Mass. - The fifth-seeded Endicott women's soccer team tied top-seeded Gordon 1-1 in double overtime in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) semifinals on Thursday night and advanced after finishing with a 5-3 advantage in penalties. Endicott, now 10-7-2 on the season, will travel to third-seeded University of New England (UNE) on Saturday for the CCC Championship.

Endicott got on the board first, scoring just 2:29 into the contest when Jaymie Caponigro (Swampscott, Mass.) scored her team-leading eighth goal of the season. The Gulls would then get three more shots off before Gordon started to counter, eventually scoring in the 22nd minute to tie the match at 1-1.

From there on out, the remainder of the match would be a great display of defensive play by both teams, limiting the offensive chances on either side of the ball. Both squads finished the first half with five shots, while the Fighting Scots held a slight 4-3 edge in the second half. Each team went on to record one shot in the first overtime before Gordon took the only shot in the second. Through two overtime periods of play, the Fighting Scots held a slim 11-9 advantage in total shots and a slight edge in corners at 8-7.

After 110 minutes of play, the two cross-town rivals would advance to penalty kicks, with the teams alternating through five attempts. All three student-athletes for each team would convert their attempts, making it 3-3 heading into the fourth round. Endicott's Hannah Lederman (Natick, Mass.) stepped up and beat the Gordon keeper to give the Gulls the 4-3 advantage with the Scots' attempt coming next. Endicott keeper Kayla Wentworth (Taunton, Mass.) decisively dove to her right, stopping the shot and preserving the 4-3 lead for Endicott. Caponigro then came in to secure the win for the Gulls, firing her shot by a diving keeper to move Endicott past Gordon 5-3 in penalties.

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• Endicott is now 24-8-4 all-time against Gordon, as the Gulls officially tied tonight, and defeated the Fighting Scots 1-0 in the regular season.
• The two cross-town rivals are no strangers to penalty kicks, as the Gulls edged out the Fighting Scots 3-1 on PK's in the 2013 CCC Championship.
• Successful in the penalty attempts were Hailey Demers (Charlton, Mass.), Christina Bacon (Lincoln, R.I.), Chloe Waldron (Harwinton, Conn.), Lederman and Caponigro.
• Wentworth would make three saves on four shots to improve to 10-7-2 on the season.
• This is the ninth time the Gulls have advanced to the CCC Championship under head coach Jodi Kenyon.

WHAT'S NEXT

Fifth-seeded Endicott (10-7-2) now advances to take on third-seeded UNE (12-5-2) on Saturday in the CCC Championship. Start time for the match is set for 1 PM.

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