BEVERLY, Mass. – Senior Diego Slobotzky (Mexico City, Mexico) scored a goal and assisted on another as top-seeded Endicott College advanced to the 2015 Commonwealth Coast Conference Men's Soccer Championship Game with a 2-0 win over fourth-seeded Wentworth Institute of Technology in a CCC semifinal played at Hempstead Stadium.
The Gulls, who won their third in a row while running their unbeaten streak to 16, improve to 15-1-3 and will host second-seeded Gordon for the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament on Saturday at Noon. The Leopards saw their three-game win streak come to a half, falling to 14-5-0. The Black & Gold are anticipating a berth in the ECAC Tournament, which will be announced on Monday.
The first half saw a tightly contested battle with both teams unable to capitalize on the few quality chances afforded to them. Endicott had an early chance when, in the 12th minute, sophomore Robert Hartan (Hebron, Conn.) broke through the defense and went in alone on freshman Joe Schallmo (Norwood, Mass.), who would make a diving stop.
Junior Alec Watkinson (Merrimack, N.H.) had a pair of chances for Wentworth in a span of 1:19, however both went wide of the mark. In the 43rd minute the Leopards had a corner kick but were unable to convert.
Endicott would have three chances in the early part of the second half before Leopard senior Alberto Benhamu (Caracas, Venezuela) put a shot on net in the 56th minute. Benhamu also had a bid in the 62nd minute, however sent his shot wide.
Slobotzky set up senior Abdulla Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) at 66:11 when he sent a cross into the box. Al Khalifa put home the shot to the back center.
Wentworth applied pressure in an attempt to get the equalizer and sophomore Emmett Basaca (San Diego, Calif.) had two attempts in a three-minute span; one was saved and the other went wide.
At 83:45 Slobotzky added an insurance marker when he put home a shot to the left side off a feed from senior Shintaroh Itoh (Tokyo, Japan).
Junior Nick Weinstein made a pair of second-half saves to record his 14th shutout of the season. Schallmo made three stops for the Leopards. Endicott had a 10-9 shot advantage while each team took three corner kicks.
