Men's Soccer Shuts Out Gordon, 1-0; Clinches CCC Regular Season Title

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott sophomore forward Diego Maillo (Plantation, Fla.) sent a sizzling header into the back left of the goal in the 84th minute as the Gulls celebrated a 1-0 victory over the Gordon College Fighting Scots to claim the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) regular season title Tuesday night at Hempstead Stadium.

With the win, Endicott moved to 13-1-3 overall and 8-0-1 in the CCC, while Gordon fell to 12-4 and 7-2 in conference play.

The first half started slow with neither team getting much going, but intensity soon picked up as Gordon outshot the Gulls 10-7 in the scoreless first stanza.

Senior midfielder Shintaroh Itoh (Nerima, Tokyo, Japan) nearly put Endicott on top with a header of his own in the 50th minute, but junior goalkeeper Josh Spoonhour (Greencastle, Pa.) made a diving stop in the nick of time.

Maillo's header proved to be the game-winning goal off a feed from senior forward Diego Slobotzky (Mexico City, Mexico.)

BEYOND THE BOX SCORE

• The Gulls earned their second victory over Gordon in program history to improve to 2-18-2 in the all-time series, dating back prior to the 2001 season.
• The last time Endicott beat cross-town rival Gordon was a 5-2 win on Oct. 3, 2012 on the road, until the team's first home win over the Fighting Scots here tonight.
• Maillo scored his seventh goal of the season, (leads the team with four game-winners.)
• Slobotzky recorded his third assist of the season, as he paced the team with six of the Gulls' 18 shots.
• Maillo and Slobotzky connected on a goal/assist for the second time this season.
• Junior goalkeeper Nick Weinstein (Trumbull, Conn.) registered eight saves in the match as he picked up his 11th shutout of the season.

FOR THE FOES

• Spoonhour (12-4) made six saves in the defeat.
• Junior midfielder Caleb Cole (Coatesville, Pa.) fired off eight shots to lead the field.
• The Fighting Scots were shutout for the third time this season. (All 1-0 losses to Calvin, Tufts and Endicott.)

NOTES

• 13 wins in a single season is one win shy of tying the program record (14) set by the 1998 Endicott men's soccer team competing in the GNAC. 

WHAT'S NEXT

Tonight was the final regular season match for both teams, as they await CCC playoff pairings to be released later this evening.  

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