ENDICOTT TOPS EMMANUEL IN ECAC WOMEN'S SOCCER QUARTERFINAL
BEVERLY, Mass. – The 2012 Emmanuel College Women’s Soccer season came to a close on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament. The Saints, who earned the 6th seed in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament, were defeated 2-0 by the 3rd-seeded Gulls of Endicott College.
BEVERLY, Mass. – The 2012 Emmanuel College Women's Soccer season came to a close on Wednesday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) Tournament. The Saints, who earned the 6th seed in the ECAC Division III New England Tournament, were defeated 2-0 by the 3rd-seeded Gulls of Endicott College.
Endicott, which improves to 12-5-4 on the season, moves on to face the winner of #7 Albertus Magnus College at #2 Keene State College, a game which was postponed until tomorrow. The Endicott will square off with the winner of this 2/7 game at 1:30 pm on Saturday. Both, the semifinal and championship rounds will be hosted by University of Saint Joseph in Hartford, Connecticut. Emmanuel ends their 2012 campaign 13-7-1 on the season.
The opening half of Wednesday's contest featured three quality scoring opportunities by the Gulls, as Endicott aimed to gain an early advantage over Emmanuel. In the 10th 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 linesman signaled offsides on the play, negating the goal.
The Saints also had a great scoring opportunity early in the contest. 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 went one-on-one with Gulls keeper Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.). Zerba's shot, however, was saved by Donnelly to keep the visitors off the board. The Saints managed just three first-half shots and the two teams entered halftime scoreless.
Early in the second half, Endicott scored the game's first goal. Freshman Rebecca Gustine (East Hampton, Conn.) scored her third goal of the season, with an assist from Marinelli, to put the Gulls up 1-0. Gustine's goal would hold up as the game-winner, but the Gulls struck again 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 56th 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.) in the 61st minute. Marcello held the Gulls scoreless for the remainder 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.
This was Emmanuel's second ECAC women's soccer tournament appearance in the past four years. Endicott was defeated by UMass Boston in the quarterfinal round of the 2011 ECAC Tournament.
*Release courtesy of Endicott College Sports Information