Endicott, Roger Williams battle to scoreless draw
Sept. 17, 2008
BEVERLY, Mass. - Neither Endicott College nor Roger Williams University could find the back of the net in 110 minutes of men's soccer action on Wednesday night, as the Gulls and the Hawks played to a scoreless draw in Beverly, Massachusetts. The stalemate brings Endicott's record to 1-3-1 overall (1-0-1 TCCC), while RWU now stands at 3-1-1 and 2-0-1 in The Commonwealth Coast Conference.
Each team had its fair share of opportunities in regulation; however the field slanted in the Roger Williams favor for a majority of the evening. The Hawks consistently pressured Endicott freshman goalkeeper Nicholas Allman (Newburyport, Mass.), yet the rookie answered the bell time and time again. Just minutes after a crossing feed from Michael Patriarca (Warren, R.I.) to Dan Saccoccio (Holtsville, N.Y.) sailed left of the Endicott net, Allman was tested for his best save of the night. RWU's Brandon O'Donovan (Coram, N.Y.) rifled a point-blank bid from just eight yards out that required the Gull netminder to charge back to his line and register a leaping save as he punched the ball over the crossbar to keep the score knotted at 0-0.
It looked as though the Gulls were going to steal the game away from the visitors with 2:30 to play in regulation, as TJ Sapienza (Milford, N.H.) hurled a throw-in from the right sideline all the way into the Hawks' box to a waiting Danny Vagnini (Farmington, Conn.). Vagnini fired a quick shot to the lower left of the visitor's net, forcing Roger Williams' keeper Peter Plate (Commack, N.Y.) to make a diving stop.
The visitors had the best change in the overtime sessions as Allman was forced to dive forward to punch a ball to safety with just 11 ticks left in the second frame. Neither team was able to solve the others goalkeeper, as the squads battled to a scoreless draw.
Allman ended the evening with nine saves, while Plate closed out the night with five stops. The Hawks outshot the Gulls, 22-10, and dominated the corner kick opportunities, 11-2.
Endicott, now unbeaten in its last two, puts the streak on the line Saturday afternoon as the Gulls take on Colby-Sawyer at 12:30 p.m. in New London, N.H. Roger Williams gets back at it against Curry on Saturday at 4:00 p.m.