Endicott Faces Tough Road Test, Ties 1-1 In Double OT

Providence, R.I.- Freshman back Alex Tonsberg continued his impressive start and netted his third goal in the 43rd minute of action as the EndicottCollege men's soccer team battled Rhode Island College to a 1-1 double overtime tie at the RIC Soccer Field on Wednesday night in non-conference action. 

After a scoreless first half, the Gulls found themselves leading, 1-0, in the 47th minute after junior forward Brett Longobucco (Torrington, CT) lofted a pass past RIC's defense to freshman forward Alex Tonsberg (Westport, CT), who chipped a shot over sophomore goalkeeper Christopher Duarte (Cumberland, RI) for the first goal of the game. 

Trailing by one, RIC had a chance to knot the game in the 59th minute when freshman defender Alex Caron (Coventry, RI) lined up for the corner kick. Caron sent a perfect ball in the box directly to freshman forward Kevin Arboleda (Pawtucket, RI), who promptly redirected the entry with a header. His shot attempt skipped past goalkeeper Daniel Higgins (South Kingstown, RI), but Longobucco made a great play to back up the netminder and cleared the ball out of harm's way. 

However, the Anchormen bounced back with more offense in the 72nd minute to finally tie the game at one. The attack began when senior defender Sean Maguire (Portsmouth, RI) launched a long pass across midfield to Estrada, who quickly slipped past a pair of defenders and blasted a shot from the right side of the box. The shot bounced off an Endicott (4-1-1) defender and went past Higgins to tie the game at one. 

With the game knotted at one apiece down the stretch, both teams played lockdown defense the rest of the way to keep the opposing offenses off the scoreboard. Higgins (4-1-1) was stellar as well for Endicott as the senior stopped a total of four shots.  On the other end, Duarte (1-2-1) was spectacular in net for RIC, making eight saves along the way. 

The Gulls outshot the Anchormen, 19-15, but were plagued by fouls and offside calls throughout the match. Endicott committed 20 fouls and went offside 10 times. Meanwhile, RIC committed 16 fouls and went offside just once. The Anchormen also held the advantage in corner kicks, 5-2. 

Coach Joe Calabrese knew that this matchup was going to be grinding match heading into RIC's home opener.  "We expected RIC to play hard tonight in their home opener.  They played an offside trap and we struggled timing our runs from the flank positions and central mids to get in behind," said Calabrese.

After all was said and done, Calabrese was happy with the outcome.  "This was a good result on the road especially since it was our third match in the last five days."

Endicott is now off until the host CCC rival Roger Williams at home on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.  This will prove to be a great early season test for the Gulls.  Rhode Island College will begin Little East Conference play at home against Eastern Connecticut on Saturday, Sept. 15 (1 p.m.).

Contributions courtesy of R.I.C. Sports Information Department.