Gulls Soar Into Finals Behind Enright's Two Goals

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Behind two goals from junior Melissa Enright (York Beach, Maine), the Endicott College field hockey team defeated Gordon College 2-0 to advance to the finals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) tournament. Endicott will try to win their first conference title and earn the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament in Saturday's final.

Enright scored a goal in each half for the Gulls and now has 14 on the season, tied for second on the squad. She opened the scoring in the 18^th minute when she converted a penalty stroke, sending the ball high over the head of Gordon goalie Anna Bury (Huntingtown, Md.) and down into the net. It was the sixth time that Enright had converted on a penalty stroke this season, in as many chances.

The junior saw that streak come to an end, however, less than ten minutes later when the Gulls earned another penalty try. This time Bury came up with a huge glove stop, denying Enright and keeping the game at 1-0, which is how the scoreline looked at the half.

In the second half, the Gulls scored in the run of play, continuing their offensive attack that had seen them outshoot the visitors 9-3 in the first half. Nearly fifteen minutes into the second half, junior midfielder Cassie DeSimone (Reading, Mass.) was able to get behind the Gordon defense and push the ball up to Enright, who finished solidly to give the Gulls a 2-0 lead. For DeSimone, it was her third assist of the season.

The Gulls would end the game outshooting the Fighting Scots 15-6 in the game and had a 13-5 advantage in penalty corners.
Taylor Teixeira (Exeter, N.H) made five stops in the contest to pick up her fifth shutout of the year. Teixeira has allowed just three goals in her last six outings, including four clean sheets.

Teixeira got help from her defense all game, particularly on a second half shot by Gordon forward Clara Baker (Underhill, Vt.). Baker blasted a shot from the left side and senior Courtney Dronsfield (Penfield, N.Y.) made a heads-up defensive save, clearing the ball off the line before it could trickle through.

Baker, a senior captain for Gordon, had two of their six shots in the game, all on net. Three more came from freshman midfield Karli Balmer (Perkasie, Pa.).

Bury made seven stops in net for the Scots, but saw her record slip to 7-11.

The Gulls entered the tournament with a 9-1 conference record, tied with University of New England, and earned the number one seed on a conference goals conceded tiebreaker. Now the Gulls will host the Nor'easters on Saturday in the conference final. The teams have met twice already this year, and each school was victorious on their home field. The game is set for 1:00 pm on Endicott's North Field.

Gordon, who entered the tournament as the \#4 seed, sees their season come to a close with a 9-12 record.