Gulls Awarded #6 Seed In ECAC DIII New England Tournament- Set To Host 1st Round Match

BEVERLY, Mass.-  The Endicott College men's soccer team has made history for the second straight season by receiving a bid to the ECAC DIII New England Tournament.  Endicott will host the opening round on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

The Gulls, following a 9-7-3 season, have been awarded the #6 seed and will take on #3 seed Lasell College.  Lasell is coming off of a 15-4 season that ended in a 2-1 loss to Norwich in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinals.  Endicott is coming off of a 1-0 loss to Gordon in the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) quarterfinals.  The Gulls are in the ECAC tournament for the second straight season after never having received a bid in the program's history prior to 2011.

Endicott has been lead this season by CCC Rookie of the Year Jordan Daniels (Canton, Conn.) as the freshman forward has totaled 12 goals and four assists for 28 points to date.  Daniels led the team and conference in both goals and points and was named to the All-CCC First Team.  Fellow freshman Alex Tonsberg (Westport, Conn.) is second on the squad with six goals.  Joining Daniels as All-Conference nominees were two defensive keys in back Kevin Gnecco (North Hampton, N.H.) and goal keeper Daniel Higgins (South Kingstown, R.I.) as the duo look to lead a stingy defense against an offense that is averaging 2.3 goals per match.  Higgins was named to the All-CCC Honorable Mention team as Gnecco received All-CCC Second Team honors.  Gnecco, Michael MacLeay (Epping, N.H.), Jed Magnusson (Kingston, N.H.), Brett Longobucco (Torrington, Conn.) and Higgins lead a defensive unit that has allowed just 1.08 goals per match on the season.  Higgins is 7-4-3 on the season and is allowing just 1.10 goals against in 2012.

Lasell is led up front by junior Mike Skelton (Conway, N.H.) who was named as the GNAC Player of the Year after putting up an impressive 14 goals and three assists for 31 points.  Kyle Cronin (Weymouth, Mass.) has enjoyed offensive success as well in 2012 by recording six goals of his own.  Conor Fitzgerald (Marshfield, Mass.) was able to record five goals and two assists on his way to a 12 point season.  Goal keeper Miguel Colmenares (Caracas, Venezuela) has had a steller 2012 campaign and has wracked up a record of 13-3-0 and has allowed an average of just 0.99 goals against per match.  

The winner of the matchup will take on the winner of the #2 Coast Guard vs. #7 Western New England matchup on Saturday at 3 p.m.