BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior Heather Moody's (Dunstable, Mass.) goal with 20 seconds left in overtime snapped a 0-0 tie and lifted the Endicott College women's soccer team to a berth in the championship game of the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference Women's Soccer Tournament with a 1-0 win over Wentworth in a CCC semifinal.
The top seeded Gulls (15-5-1) will host second seeded Gordon (16-4-1), which tied Roger Williams, 2-2 but would advance 3-1 on penalty kicks, in Saturday's final. Wentworth sees its season come to an end with a 7-9-4 record.
A defensive-minded contest would see neither team record a shot early on, despite Endicott having a pair of corner kick opportunities and the Gulls would put their first shot – which came in the 12th minute – on frame while the Leopards were held without a shot until the 18th minute of action.
Endicott's best chance in the first half came off of a shot by sophomore Laura Wysocki (Somers, Conn.) in the 19th minute. Wysocki would gather a defensive misplay from the Leopards and snap a shot towards the net that would glance just wide of the goal. The Gulls would then out-shoot the Leopards 5-2 for the remainder of the half and would hold advantages in shots (9-3) and corner kicks (4-0) through the first 45:00.
The Gulls opened the second half with a pair of shots, including one that went just high of the goal, and put two on goal in the 64th and 67th minutes that junior keeper Nicole Leahey (Warwick, R.I.) would save. Wentworth would have a chance in the 76th minute when junior Tori Armishaw (Scarborough, Maine) took a feed from classmate Olivia Moore (Salem, Conn.) and fired a shot on goal that Endicott junior Katie Donnelly (Madison, Conn.) stopped. Less than two minutes later, an Endicott shot would hit the post and, for the second consecutive post-season meeting, the two teams would end regulation knotted at zero.
Headed into its third straight and program record seventh overtime contest of the season, the Leopards had chance in the 93rd minute when junior Alexandrea Banks (Ellington, Conn.) fired a shot from midfield that Donnelly was forced to retreat on and make a save,. In the 99th minute freshman Mary Annon (Concrd, N.H.) took a shot that Donnelly saved. The rebound came out to Armishaw, who fired a shot just high of the goal.
Wysocki's heroics came when freshman Jessica Joseph (Bedford, N.H.) sent a cross into the box that was almost cleared away. However, Moody was able to get a foot on it and slide a shot inside the left post to propel the Gulls into Saturday's final.
Donnelly made three saves on the night while Leahey turned aside 12 shots. Endicott had a 29-12 shot advantage and an 8-2 corner kick advantage.
