Clark Shoots Gulls to Conference Title
Nov. 4, 2007
BEVERLY, MA - Senior forward Ashley Clark (E. Kinston, NH/Pentucket Regional) scored midway through the first overtime period to lift Endicott College to its fifth-consecutive TCCC title with a, 1-0, overtime win over Roger Williams University on Sunday afternoon in Beverly, Massachusetts.
A physical contest between the No. 1 and No. 3 seeds saw exciting action in the opening half. Just under nineteen-minutes in, the Gulls put a beautiful ball on net as Caitlin Flynn (Southold, NY/Mattituck) shot a laser from 20-yards out that was deftly punched away by Roger Williams' goalkeeper Jen Garside (Londonderry, NH/Londonderry), keeping the game scoreless.
Although Endicott controlled much of the first frame, out shooting the Hawks by a 10-1 margin, the two squads entered the break knotted at 0-0.
A back-and-forth second half yielded a series of scoring chances for the Gulls; with no opportunity better than one created by forward Paula McGinn (Lynn, MA/Lynn Classical). In the 76th minute McGinn dribbled past two defenders into the RWU box, only to be tied-up by strong defense, unable to get a shot off from three-yards out. The Gulls continued applying pressure over the final minutes of regulation, however they were unable to beat Garside.
In overtime, Endicott sealed its own fait. In the 96th minute Paula McGinn connected with forward Ashley Clark, who took the feed and fired a turnaround shot inside the right post to propel the Gulls to the overtime win. The goal, Clark's sixth of the season, gave Endicott its fifth-straight conference title and awards the Blue and Green the automatic qualifier into next week's NCAA Regional Tournament.
Endicott out shot Roger Williams 20-2 on Sunday afternoon while holding an 11-2 advantage in corner kicks. Roger Williams' keeper Jen Gardside made eight saves in the loss while Amy Meuse (Saugus, MA/Saugus) earned the shutout win by turning away one RWU scoring attempt.
With the win, Endicott improves to 16-5-0 overall. The Gulls now await word as to who their NCAA Tournament opponent will be. The first round begins on Wednesday, November 7th on campus sites to be announced.