Gulls Fall in Final Regular Season Game, Prepare for CCC Tournament Saturday

WALTHAM, Mass. -- In the last women's soccer game of the regular season for the Endicott Gulls, the Blue and Green were defeated by Brandeis 2-1 in non-conference action at Gordon Field. The Gulls finish their regular season at 10-7 and will now get ready to head into the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament starting this weekend.

Seeding and first round details for the CCC Tournament will be announced this week.  

Colleen Pepin (Fairhaven, Mass.) scored late in the first half off of a free kick to tie the game at one goal apiece before  a 49^th minute goal sealed the victory for the Judges. Junior captain Caitlin Peters (Salem, N.H.) swung a beautiful free kick in to the far post for the feet of Pepin, who took a touch and blasted a shot from point blank range past the Judges' junior goalie Francine Kofinas (Dix Hills, N.Y.). Her team leading 15^th goal of the year in the 41^st minute sent the teams into the half deadlocked at one.

A physical match was dominated early on by the Gulls who outshot the Judges 15-4 in the first half and earned six corner kicks. Despite the plethora of chances Endicott could not find the net and allowed Brandeis to strike first. In the 27^th minute, Brandeis's sophomore midfielder Mary Shimko (Bay Village, Ohio) played a through ball in towards the box. Sophomore forward Hilary Andrews (New Bedford, Mass.) beat everyone else to the ball, poking the shot in to the left hand corner of the net for the 1-0 lead. The goal was Andrews' second of the year.

In the second half, Endicott continued to dominate possession. The Gulls took another 13 shots and earned four more corner kicks in their efforts to break the stalemate. Even though Endicott finished the game with 28 shots to eight for Brandeis and ten corner kicks to just one for the Judges, it was Brandeis's Mimi Theodore (Walpole, Mass.) who provided the difference. The Judges' rookie defender Alec Spivak (Miami, Fla.) took a free kick from just inside the center circle. The perfectly placed ball found the feet of Theodore, streaking in from the right side in stride. Theodore took a touch and found the left corner of the net past a diving Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) for the 2-1 advantage.

Donnelly had one save and allowed two goals in 58 minutes before giving way to Endicott's sophomore goalie Natalie Wyrsch (Dover, N.H.), who played the final 32 minutes of the match. Brandeis's goalie Kofinas made six saves and allowed one goal in the first half. The Judges' rookie keeper Michelle Savuto (Ridgewood, N.J.) played a perfect second half, saving all three shots she faced to earn the win.



The Judges, who improved to 6-8-1 on the year, will travel to Lesley University tomorrow, October 25^th, for a nonconference match at 8:00 pm.