Gulls take over top spot, glide past Nor'easters

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Endicott College opened up an 11-1 lead just 12:30 into the opening half after four straight goals from \#Morgan DeShaw\# (Danville, N.H.), as the Gulls fired past the University of New England, 18-8, in a battle for first place in The Commonwealth Coast Conference. DeShaw finished the night with six goals and three assists while senior \#Valerie Feldman\# (Albany, N.Y.) posted a goal and six helpers.

UNE drew first blood to open the night when Danielle Cate (Boscawen, N.H.) scored her 38th of the season on a free-position shot to the top-left corner just 1:29 into the game. Endicott responded with a remarkable 11-0 run that started with four straight goals from DeShaw. The Gulls’ sophomore also capped off the burst as she dodged through two Nor’easter defenders and buried a bid past Tara Geraghty (Barrington, R.I.). The Gulls led 12-2 at the intermission.

The University of New England and Endicott traded goals throughout the second half, with each side scoring six times in the frame. The lead was cut to as few as seven on Cate’s third of the night, but the visitor’s would get no closer as the Gulls posted the 18-8 win.

DeShaw finished with six goals and three assists while Feldman posted one goal and dished out six assists. \#Molly Sowles\# (Cumberland, Maine) had three goals while \#Holly Davis\# (Guilford, Conn.), \#Kristen Micho\# (Syracuse, N.Y.) and \#Brooke Neuman\# (Stamford, Conn.) each scored twice for the Gulls. \#Lauren Todd\# (Newfield, N.H.) and \#Kelly Tierney\# (South Hadley, Mass.) had a goal and a helper each in the win.

Danielle Cate finished with four goals and an assist to lead the UNE offensive effort. Liz DeGrandpre (Freeport, Maine) and Jessy Dvorak (Windsor, Conn.) had a pair of goals, respectively, in the loss.

\#Leah Neff\# (South Berwick, Maine) grabbed her eighth win of the season by making nine stops for the Blue and Green. Tara Geraghty made 13 saves in the losing effort.

Endicott held a 35-24 shots advantage and won the groundball battle at a 37-31 clip. The Gulls also held the edge in draw controls (17-12) and had four fewer turnovers on the night (22-18).

The Gulls (8-2, 6-0 TCCC) return to action on Saturday when the Blue and Green travel to Dudley, Mass. to square-off with Nichols College at 11:00 a.m. UNE (7-2, 5-1 TCCC) hopes to rebound on the same day when the Nor’easters host Western New England at 3:30 p.m. in Biddeford, Maine.