Gulls Suffer Heartbreak at the Hands of Wheaton

NORTON, Mass. –The Endicott College women's soccer team faced one of its toughest tests of the season on Wednesday in Wheaton College and, despite a hard fought battle, suffered a heartbreaking 3-2 loss in non-conference action at Mirrione Stadium.

Lauren Corigliano (Roselle Park, N.J.) scored her second goal of the afternoon with 27 seconds left in the second overtime to lift the hosts to victory in a match up of two teams that will surely vie for places in the New England Regional rankings.

Endicott senior Colleen Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.) – who led the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) in scoring with 25 goals last season – opened the scoring at 15:22 when she converted a goalmouth pass from sophomore Nicole Fournier (Milford, Mass.) into her sixth marker of the season. The goal was the only tally of a first half which saw the Lyons outshoot the Gulls 5-4.

Sophomore Kristina Braga (Lowell, Mass.) evened the score at one at 62:59 when she took a pass from senior Kaitlyn Mawicke (Trumbull, Conn.) on the right side of the field and lofted a shot from 25 yards out into the left side of the net.

Just over 10 minutes later, the Lyons grabbed a 2-1 lead on Corigliano's first-career goal at 73:40. Sophomore and leading scorer Joy-Marie Fernandes (Woburn, Mass.) played a ball into the box that snuck through traffic and found Corigliano at the left post.

The Gulls evened the score at two when junior Christina Vellucci (Saugus, Mass.) made good on a penalty kick at 76:52. Late in regulation, Endicott made a bid to win the contest when freshman Hannah Schneidenbach (Charlestown, R.I.) drilled a long shot that Wheaton senior goalkeeper Lindsay Leddy (Warwick, R.I.) punched over the net.

With time winding down in overtime, Wheaton junior Samantha Cronin (Wethersfield, Conn.) played the ball from the right side of the field to Corigliano, who was nestled near the left post. She drove her shot into the far right corner of the net at 109:33.

Endicott outshot the Lyons 11-5 in the second half and closed the match with a 20-13 edge in that category. Leddy finished with eight saves while sophomore Natalie Wyrsch (Dover, N.H.) recorded six saves for the Gulls.

The Lyons improved to 3-1-1 on the season and 10-0 all-time against Endicott (4-2-0). The overtime win was the first for Wheaton since September 4, 2010 – a 2-1 triumph at Worcester State.

The Gulls will return to action Saturday when they travel to Curry at 1:30 pm for Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action.The Lyons also play Saturday when they head to Worcester to face New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) foe WPI at 1 p.m.