BEVERLY – On a night where defense was the theme, the Endicott College was finally able to break through on a perfect through ball from Zach Rizzo that Jordan Daniel burried in the lower left corner in a 1-0 men’s soccer victory over Westfield State last night.
Endicott improves to 5-4-2 and Westfield drops to 3-4-1.
For most of the night the flow of the game was determined by both defenses and keepers. The back line was solid on either side with very few shots being allowed on net. Michael MacLeay, Jed Magnusson and Kevin Gnecco teamed up to limit the chances for the Owls. When tested, senior keeper Daniel Higgins rose to the occasion as he was able to stop all five shots that came on net.
The best scoring opportunity in the first half was when a long through ball took an awkward bounce around Westfiled keeper Keith Hevey and went over his head. Endicott’s Stephen Joyce was quick to act and apply pressure as Hevey recovered and grabbed the loose ball just as Joyce was lining up a shot.
After the half, both teams were able to get some decent looks before the efenses tightened up yet again. Jared Spicer was extremely impressive for the Owls as his deft touches provided lanes for his forwards and gave the Gulls some trouble as the match wore on.
Westfield’s best scoring chance came when Kristian Driscoll let go an absolute laser that just barely cleared the cross bar.
Moving into the 86th minute, both teams had yet to find the net until Ryan D’Amico fed a through ball to a charging Jordan Daniel who was able to tap it forward to himself and unleash a furious shot that beat Westfield’s keeper to the lower left corner. It was the fourth goal of the season for Daniel and the first assist of the season for D’Amico.
With such little time remaining, Westfield kicked its offense into overdrive as it took control deep in the Endicott end. Within the last 40 seconds, the Owls were able to get off a couple of shots and attempt two corners. The last of those corners was booted high into the air and out of bounds by the Endicott keeper which enabled time to expire.
Higgins recorded his second shutout of the season as he turned away all five shots that were put on the frame. Westfield’s Hevey took the hard luck loss while still turning away three of the four shots on goal.
Endicott now looks forward to a crucial matchup with the University of New England on Saturday at 5 p.m. for their home coming match. Both teams are attempting to record their first conference win and are looking to improve their playoff chances as they head into the thick of their conference schedules. Westfield is now off until Saturday as well as they travel to Worcester State for a 11 a.m. showdown.
