Defensive Efforts Not Enough As Gulls Fall To Salve Regina

NEWPORT, R.I. – The Endicott men's soccer team traveled to Newport, R.I. on Saturday afternoon for a conference matchup against the reigning CCC champions Salve Regina. The Seahawks scored in the 53^rd minute of the contest that would result in the lone goal of the evening to lift Salve over Endicott 1-0. The Gulls move to 7-7, (2-3) while their opponents stand at 6-6, (3-2 CCC).

The first frame was a battle on both ends of the field as Endicott took five shots in the frame and defensively sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso made four saves while facing nine shots as a defensive unit. In the opening minutes, senior, Alex Elia (Somers, Conn.) has a big opportunity to get an early tally for the Blue and Green as he ripped a shot at goal but the ball hit the cross-bar and did not bounce back in.

In the 13^th minute Endicott had two consecutive chances as they created dangerous plays in the final third. The first was from junior Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) when he sent a shot toward goal, but the defense was able to step on the goal line and make the save. Seconds later junior Alex Jorge (Billerica, Mass.) caught the rebound and sent it back at the net but sophomore goalkeeper Daniel Stern (Kings Park, N.Y.) came up with the save.

In the final five minutes of the frame the Seahawks contested Peluso and his unit. In a period of one minute Peluso made three saves off corner kick opportunities. The three plays consisted of junior Zachary Kraft (Tenafly, N.J.) taking the corner kick and sending it to junior Devin L'Heureux (Litchfield, N.H.) to get a chance at goal but Peluso was strong and on his toes and managed to shut down every opportunity for the Seahawks, resulting in a stalemate entering halftime.

The second half consisted of even more offensive pressure from Salve as they outshot the Gulls 11-7. In the opening minutes the Seahawks took seven shots, Peluso was able to get a handle on two of the shots at goal to make the saves. At 53:11 freshmen Steven Aston (Sherborn, Mass.) ripped a shot at net but it hit the cross-bar, as it bounced back in sophomore Andrew Chenard (Kingston, Mass.) controlled the ball and sent it to junior Alex Wasilewski (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) who was able to slip it past Peluso to take the 1-0 lead.

At 72:44 sophomore, Kyle Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.) had a scoring opportunity off a corner kick by Al Khalifa but Stern was able to make the save to keep the Seahawks ahead. The rest of the frame would be quiet and Endicott could not manage to get a tally on the board. The Seahawk's early second half goal would be the game decider as Salve came out with the 1-0 win.

The Blue and Green fought tooth and nail and played neck and neck with Salve but just could not get the ball in the back of the net. Peluso had a great game between the pipes making an impressive eight saves while his counterpart make five.

Endicott will look ahead to next Saturday, October 12^th when they travel to face CCC opponent Curry at 11:00 a.m. Salve Regina will look to Wednesday, October 16^th as they face Suffolk on the road for a 7:00 p.m. start.