BOSTON, Mass.—Endicott College junior keeper Jacqueline Ruggiero made several highlight-reel saves, to force UMass Boston women's soccer to accept a 1-1 double-overtime tie on Saturday afternoon at James Cotter Field.
THE BASICS
UMass Boston 1, Endicott College 1 (2OT)
(UMass Boston 2-0-1)
(Endicott College 1-0-1)
HOW IT HAPPENED
Beacons freshman midfielder
Maggie Kelley (Paxton, Mass.) scored her first collegiate goal but Endicott responded just over 10 minutes later to keep the game in a tie.
The Beacons held a heavy lead in shots and shots on goal, but Ruggiero made a career-high nine saves, including at least three key stops to deny the Beacons their 17
th-straight home victory.
Beacons junior goalie
Maria Spylios (Leominster, Mass.) made two saves of her own to keep UMass Boston unbeaten on the season.
Endicott College had the better end of play for the first 15-20 minutes of play before the Beacons brought on
Kaylee Haynes (Bridgewater, Mass.) and pushed
Mary Jo Murphy (Worcester, Mass.) forward.
The pair started to stretch the Gulls defense and Murphy created the Beacons best two chances of the first half.
At 32:32, Murphy received the ball inside the 18-yard box and ripped a shot from right-to-left that Ruggiero got enough of to deflect out for a corner kick.
Murphy had an even better chance with under five minutes to go in the half. Her high shot was dipping just underneath the bar, when Ruggiero parried it off the bottom of the bar and it bounced out, before being cleared away to safety.
The Beacons finally broke the deadlock in the 69
th minute. Kelley received the ball 30-yard out on the far side, turned her defender, dribbled in and the rocketed a shot across the goalmouth and in along the far side for her first collegiate tally.
Endicott responded back in the 80
th minute. A physical challenge from a Gulls player created a turnover and Gillian Magnier laced a cross in the box that Lindsay Papa tapped in for a 1-1 tie at 79:33.
Neither side would create much in the final 10 minutes, forcing the game into overtime.
The Beacons had their best two chances of overtime midway through the first session.
Murphy collected a loose ball inside the Gulls box but her hard-hit shot was right at Ruggiero who was able to knock the shot back outside of the box. Three minutes later, senior
Cal Pitts (Marshfield, Mass.) took an ambitious shot from distance that ended up just over the bar for a goal kick.
Endicott picked up their play in the final session and managed a pair of shots from Morgan Hubert but neither side was able to find a game-winner.
BY THE NUMBERS
- UMass Boston earned an 18-10 edge in shots and 10-3 lead in shots on goals. The Beacons also picked up a 7-4 advantage in corner kicks.
- With the tie, UMass Boston saw their 16-game, home winning streak dating back to October 9, 2018 come to an end. The Beacons did extend their regular-season unbeaten streak (18 games) and their home unbeaten streak (17 games).
- Saturday's meeting was the sixth all-time matchup between the two programs and the first since 2015. Endicott holds a slim 3-2-1 advantage.
- Kelley became the first Beacons newcomer to score a goal this season.
WHO'S NEXT
UMass Boston will have a quick turnaround, as they host Salem State University on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.