BEVERLY, Mass. – The Castleton men's soccer team saw their season come to a close on Saturday evening, falling in penalty kicks to Endicott in the ECAC Semifinals.

After playing to a 1-1 draw in 110 minutes of action, the contest moved to penalties to for the right to play in tomorrow's ECAC Championship matchup.

The draw, as it enters the books, puts the Spartans at 15-5-3 overall, while Endicott is now 17-2-4.

After dropping the North Atlantic Conference Championship in penalty kicks, Castleton looked to change the outcome against Endicott. Jake Tietgens stepped to the spot as the first shooter and put a shot towards the left half of the net, however Gulls goalie Nick Weinstein made a diving save to give his squad momentum, which they took advantage of. All four Endicott players converted their kicks, while Paul Phillips and Thomas Kirk converted their looks for Castleton, giving Endicott a 4-2 win in the penalty round and a spot in the ECAC finals tomorrow afternoon.

Neither offense could find the goal column in the first half, as the teams traded shots back and forth for the first 45 minutes of action. Castleton outshot the Gulls 6-5 in the first half, while both teams earned one corner kick.

The scoreless draw would be broken early in the second half, when Endicott's Al Khalifa found the back of the net to give the home squad a 1-0 lead just 3:58 into the second frame. Castleton would answer back shortly after, when Nihad Basic struck to bring the game back to even at 1-1 with just over 33 minutes to play.

Endicott had a golden chance to take a 2-1 lead in the 65th minute, when a Gulls' player ripped a shot inside the 18-yard line. Spartan netminder Amir Pasic made a diving save, but an Endicott attacker was right in front to drive home the rebound to give the Gulls what appeared to be a 2-1 lead, however the play was blown dead on the original shot as an Endicott player was ruled offside. Castleton got a good look of their own with just under four minutes to play when Thomas Kirk pulled the trigger on a shot from 30 yards out that sailed just over the crossbar, keeping the game at 1-1 heading into overtime.

With less than one minute remaining in the first overtime, an Endicott player sent a cross towards the net that was misjudged by Pasic and was bounding towards the net, however Eric Cross was in the right place at the right time to head the ball back to Pasic and send the game to a second overtime period.

Endicott held a 17-12 shot advantage, while also holding a 6-2 advantage on corner kicks in the match. The two teams committed just six fouls each, and only one booking was made in the contest.

This concludes the season for the Spartans, as the team finishes with 15 wins—tied for the most in school history.