Gulls Soar Over Owls, Demoya Scores Twice

KEENE, N.H. – The Endicott men's soccer team traveled to Keene State on Sunday evening to play their second game of the weekend. Freshman Edwin Demoya (Salem, Mass.) scored twice in the contest to help lift the Gulls over the Owls 3-2. The Blue and Green defeated Eastern Nazarene yesterday and with tonight's win they now stand at 4-3, while the Owls fall to 0-5.

The first frame belonged to the Blue and Green as they worked hard in every position on the field to control the ball. The Gulls forced a lot of pressure in the final third taking 10 shots in the frame. Junior Connor Gibbs (Westborough, Mass.) started the scoring for Endicott as he found the back of the net early at 16:22 when he took the ball from the 25 and struck it towards the top corner. The lead would not last for long as the Owls answered back at 19:20, as senior Scott Douglas (East Greenwich, R.I.) was able to find sophomore Eddie Mercer in front of the cage to take a point-blank shot towards sophomore goalkeeper Austin Peluso (Farmington, Conn.) that reached the back of the net.

Endicott was not fazed by the goal as they kept pushing forward offensively. They had a great opportunity as senior Bobby Durben (Stow, Mass.) came through on a breakaway towards goal and ripped a shot but sophomore goalkeeper Mark Keller (Northborough, Mass.) made an impressive save deflecting the ball out of danger. The Gulls finally added another tally on the board after a lot of hard work in the final third as junior Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) found Demoya cutting through the defenders in front of the net, Demoya was able to settle the pass to quickly knock it into the back of the net to take back the lead.

Juniors Jed Magnusson (Kingston, N.H.), Michael DiTommaso (Farmington, Conn.) and sophomore Kyle Bisceglia (New Boston, N.H.)  were solid in the backfield doing a good job keeping the ball out of the defensive box and forcing an offensive push. At 29:17 senior Alex Elia (Somers, Conn.) created a dangerous play as he blasted a shot from the top of the box and forced Keller to make the diving save. The Owls tried to tie the game back us as junior Michael Jacques (Tolland, Conn.) had a breakaway play, dribbling down the right side and attempted to take Peluso off his angle but he could not fake him out as Peluso came up with the save.

Moments later the Gulls got another opportunity as sophomore Sebastian Rozo (Stamford, Conn.) made a crisp pass to Demoya who put on a show with great footwork as he dribbled up the right side all the way up to the five and lifted the ball high to soar over Keller's head to score his second goal of the evening. The Gulls ended the frame on top with the 3-1 lead.

The second half still possessed great offensive pressure by the Blue and Green, but the Owls were able to create some more opportunities offensively. They kept Peluso busy taking 13 shots. They had a great opportunity as Douglas received the ball off a free kick and blasted the ball toward the top of the net but Peluso was able to reach high and make an incredible save to keep the lead at two. Moments later freshman Jeremy Schneider (Pleasantville, N.Y.) attempted to rebuttal as he took a shot at goal but it beamed off the right post and Endicott was able to clear it out.

The Blue and Green kept Keller busy as they took two consecutive point-blank shots at goal but could not find the back of the net. With six minutes remaining in the game Douglas took a shot from the 18 and skimmed off the shin of a Gulls defender that threw Peluso off as it rolled into the back of the net to make it a one goal game.

Durben had another chance to score an insurance goal in the final two minutes as he found himself dribbling towards the net with just one defender but the Owls were able to keep the pressure on the ball as they kicked it wide to end the play. Endicott kept playing a possession game towards the end of the frame to keep the scoring changes for the Owls at a minimum, which worked in their favor as the clock hit zero to give the Gulls their second win on the weekend.

Endicott will now look forward to a well-deserved break as they wait until Saturday to play again as they hit the road to face CCC opponent Roger Williams for a 3:30 PM start. The Owls will host Worcester State on Wednesday night for a 6:30 PM kickoff.