Gulls Defense Stifles Eastern Nazarene for Conference Victory

Box Score

BEVERLY, Mass. – Holding their opponents to just one shot, the Endicott women's soccer team made Nicole Fournier's (Milford, Mass.) first half goal stand up for a 1-0 victory over Eastern Nazarene Tuesday in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) action at Endicott Stadium. The Gulls improve their record to 8-5, with a 4-2 mark in the conference, while Eastern Nazarene dips to 8-5-2, and falls to 2-3-1 in the CCC.

Fournier collected her sixth goal of the season after Colleen Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.) played the ball into an open area and the box. Freshman goalkeeper Rachel Henry (Lowell, Mass.) ran out to cover the ball, but Fournier got there first and dribbled around her before finishing easily into the open net. It was the second assist of the season for Pepin, while Vanessa Caruccio (Winthrop, Mass.), who played the ball to her, collected her team-leading fourth assist of the year.

Pepin had five shots, but put several of them over the bar, including a great chance to double the Gull's lead after Heather Moody (Dunstable, Mass.) crossed up her defender and played the ball into space.

Carrucio, Christina Velluci (Saugus, Mass.) and Hannah Schneidenbach (Charlestown, R.I.) all had blasts on goal that were stopped by Henry.

Senior midfielder Jackie Greenwood (Halifax, Mass.) had a great chance to tie the game in the 34^th minute when her shot rang the left post of the goal. That was the lone shot that the visitors would have, however, as Endicott outshot their opponents 15-1. The Gulls also held a 7-0 advantage in corner kicks.

Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) did not have to make any stops to earn her second shutout of the season. The freshman goalkeeper is now 2-1 and has allowed just one goal in the past three games.

Henry made five stops but took her first loss of the season in goal for Eastern Nazarene, falling to 4-1.

The Gulls will play a Friday night contest as part of the homecoming festivities this week. Nichols will come to Beverly for a 6:00 pm kickoff in CCC action. The Lions will host Gordon College Saturday at 11:00 am.