BEVERLY, Mass. – The No. 1 seeded Endicott men's soccer team shut out eighth-seeded Curry, 2-0, Saturday afternoon in Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Quarterfinal action at Hempstead Stadium to advance to the CCC Semifinals for the fifth time in program history.
With the win, Endicott moved to 14-1-3 overall, while Curry fell to 10-9-1.
The first half saw Curry jump out to a fast start, as the Colonels put up three shots in the first six minutes, but it was Endicott that got the scoreboard first with a cross by sophomore forward Andrew Hymson (Waldwick, N.J.) that slipped past the Curry defense and was knocked in by a Colonels' back for the first goal of the game in the 16th minute.
The Gulls took the 1-0 lead to the half, but Curry came out firing in the second stanza as senior midfielder Rolando Montero (Norwalk, Conn.) almost nailed the equalizer in the 56th minute when he took a breakaway down the field and missed just left of the net.
Hymson found the back of the net 10 yards out for his first collegiate goal in his first collegiate start in the 68th minute on a feed from sophomore forward Diego Maillo (Plantation, Fla.) to secure the win for Endicott.
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE
The Gulls earned their second postseason victory over Curry, and improved to 16-3 all-time over the Colonels. (The previous postseason matchup was a 4-3 victory in the 2014 ECAC Division III New England Semifinals at home on Nov. 15, 2014.)
Junior goalkeeper Nick Weinstein (Trumbull, Conn.) registered two saves in the match as he picked up his 12th shutout of the season, which is one shutout shy of the all-time program record for career shutouts (13) held by Cameron Twiss '08.
Hymson registered his first career goal.
Maillo recorded his third assist of the season and led the team with six shots.
FOR THE FOES
Junior goalkeeper Dan Johnson (Easton, Conn.) (10-9-1) made five saves in the defeat and leads the CCC with 126 saves on the season.
Montero paced the Colonels with three of the team's 12 shots on the day.
The Colonels were shutout for the fourth time this season
NOTES
14 wins in a single season ties the program record (14) set by the 1998 Endicott men's soccer team competing in the GNAC.
The Gulls advanced to the CCC Semifinals for just the fifth time in program history since joining the CCC in 1999. (2014 was the most recent trip to the CCC Semifinals.)
Today's match was a homecoming of sorts for Curry head coach Peter Mendel, a 2005 graduate of Endicott and three-year member of the soccer program from 2002-2004.
Curry's goalkeeper, Dan Johnson, was a Joel Barlow HighSschool teammate of Endicott back Ryan Cohane (Easton, Conn.).
WHAT'S NEXT
Endicott will face No. 4 seed Wentworth on Tuesday, November 3 at Hempstead Stadium in the CCC Men's soccer Semifinals at a time to be announced. Endicott defeated Wentworth, 1-0, at home on October 21 as senior forward Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) drilled a PK goal in the 84th minute. (Game Recap Courtesy of Endicott Sports Information)
