BEVERLY, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (0-0-1) and Endicott College (0-0-1) dueled to a 1-1 double overtime stalemate in a non-conference men's soccer match on Friday evening.
After a scoreless first half, both teams managed to find the back of the net in the second stanza. In the 50th minute, graduate Quinn Hewitt (Cape Elizabeth, Maine) sniped a shot to the bottom left corner from just outside the box after being sprung free with a perfect lead pass from senior Henry Melville (Cumberland, Maine). The Gulls countered with a freakish goal 18 minutes later, when Ryan Archer redirected a low liner corner kick from Joe Mepham just inside the right post.
After a slow start, the Monks began to build offensive pressure late in the first frame and carried the momentum in the latter period. St. Joe's had several prime opportunities to regain the lead after the Gulls' equalizer, perhaps none better than a free kick taken by graduate Colin Grant (Harvard, Mass.) after Hewitt was fouled just outside the box at the 85:14 mark. With the ball placed near the top left corner of the box, Grant belted a low drive towards the bottom right corner of the net, but Endicott freshman keeper Kyle Rosa made a terrific diving save to preserve the 1-1 tie.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph's graduate netminder David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) was solid in the 2021 opener by making six stops while snuffing out a handful of volleys into the box. Rosa essentially kept his team in the game by turning away eight bids with several acrobatic saves in his collegiate debut.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots on goal (9-7) while Endicott held narrow advantages in shots (18-17) and corner kicks (8-6) on the evening.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the deadlock, Saint Joseph's is now 3-8-1 all-time versus Endicott College. Entering tonight's action, the Monks had bested the Gulls – who last defeated the Royal Blue in 2014 - in consecutive meetings.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's is off until Friday, September 10th when the side travels to University of Saint Joseph (CT). The Monks' 2021 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) opener is slated to kick off at 7:00 PM.
