Salem, MA – Alex Elia (Sommers, CT) scored 1:07 into overtime as the Endicott College Gulls rallied late, to stun Salem State, 3-2 in the Vikings' home opener on Saturday afternoon. Playing a man down, Endicott scored on a penalty-kick with a minute left in regulation and won on Elia's score in the extra-frame. The victory raises the Gulls' record to 2-2, while Salem State slips to 0-2.
The game was a tightly contested affair between the two North Shore rivals until the Vikings' Saimir Zepaj (Peabody, MA) blasted a penalty kick early in the first half past goaltender Austin Peluso (Farmington, CT) to give Salem State a 1-0 lead. Elia countered with a point-blank shot minutes later, but Vikings' keeper Nondas Kargakis (Heraklion, Greece) deflected the shot to keep the Gulls off the scoreboard. Max Mondestin (Salem, MA) put the Vikings up 2-0 when he made a nice move to break free and score on a pass from Zepaj from five yards out at the 28:13 mark. Endicott, however answered quickly, as Edwin Demoya (Salem, MA) made the score 2-1 less than a minute later.
In the second half, the Gulls had several scoring opportunities including an open-net attempt in the box, and a cross-field kick that went off the post that nearly tied the game. Keeping the pressure on the Vikings nearly the entire half, the Gulls finally broke through when Zepaj was issued a red card, forcing Salem State to play a man down the final 23 minutes. Endicott's Abdullah Al Khalifa (Riffa, Bahrain) almost tied the score again on a free kick that hit the crossbar and was headed into the back of the net, but the put-back was disallowed due to an offsides call. Khalifa later got redemption, scoring the equalizer, on a penalty kick that tied the game at 2-2 with just over a minute remaining.
The Vikings' Kargakis had two saves while Peluso also stopped two shots for the Gulls. Endicott held a 9-3 advantage in corner kicks, and a 15-11 shot advantage.
Salem State's next game is against Plymouth State on Wednesday at 6:00 PM at Alumni Field. Endicott next plays Rhode Island College on their home field Tuesday night at
