STANDISH, Maine – #21 Endicott College (5-1) clipped Saint Joseph's College (1-4), 2-1, with a pair of second-half goals in a non-conference women's soccer contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's came out of the gates with a high level of intensity and, following some entertaining back-and-forth play, the efforts paid off in the 25th minute when senior forward Madison Michaud (Presque Isle, Maine) hit pay-dirt. On a corner kick, junior Aaliyah Wilson-Falcone (Winthrop, Maine) drilled a shot on target that was denied by a defender with a team save, but the rebound eventually found the foot of Michaud, who buried a kick into the right side of the net to make it a 1-0 game.
The Monks and Gulls continued to swap scoring chances during the remainder of the first half as the one-goal edge remained heading into intermission. The visitors applied immense offensive pressure in the second period and managed to tie the game when junior Alexandria Dostie (Essex Junction, Vt.) steered a shot beyond the reach of St. Joe's junior goalie Carly Downey (Yarmouth, Maine) in the 62nd minute.
Endicott had an excellent opportunity to pot the go-ahead goal in the 76th minute, when Downey left her post to challenge a Gulls forward and was caught out of position. Sophomore midfielder Riley Rischitelli (North Brookfield, Mass.) had a great look at an open net at close range, but Saint Joseph's junior defender Randi Lee Robinson (Hollis, Maine) managed to block the shot attempt with a tremendous individual effort.
The tie score was broken in the 87th minute when junior midfielder Erin Wood (Hanson, Mass.) evaded an SJC defender in right side of the box and unleashed a rocket from an odd angle into the top of the net.
TEAM STATS:
Endicott – ranked 21st nationally in this week's United Soccer Coaches Poll - held the lead in shots (24-10) and shots on goal (9-6) while Saint Joseph's notched a 3-2 edge in corner kicks.
THE KEEPERS:
EC keeper Jacqueline Ruggiero (Dedham, Mass.) made four saves in the triumph while Downey steered away six shots in a losing effort.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 0-7 all-time versus Endicott College – prior to this evening, these two teams had not met on the soccer pitch since the 2006 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's kicks off a nine-game Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) stretch at Anna Maria College on Saturday. Kick-off is slated for 1:30 PM.
