STANDISH, ME - Jack LaFreniere '13 (Alton, NH) notched a pair of goals and Doug MacCallum '10 (Hingham, MA) collected a goal and an assist to help Saint Joseph's (11-7-1, 7-2 GNAC) topple Rivier (3-13, 2-7) in GNAC men's soccer action at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday afternoon. With the victory, the Monks earned the top seed, and secured home-field advantage, in the conference tournament, which is slated to begin this Saturday, time and opponent TBA.
St. Joe's needed a victory over Rivier in order to unseat Lasell, who ended the season with a 6-1-2 record. Although the Lasers defeated the Monks, 1-0 on October 12th, and have one less defeat, the GNAC awards three points for each victory against a conference opponent and one point for a tie in a league contest. With the win on Wednesday, St. Joe's has 21 points, while Lasell is forced to settle for the #2 seed with 20 points. In all, the top eight teams advance to the GNAC Tournament.
With something to play for - the Monks' first GNAC regular season title as a third-year member of the conference - St. Joe's dominated the match from start to finish and outshot the visitors 22-1, including 16-1 in the second stanza. The Monks also held a decided 10-0 advantage in corner kicks.
Prior to the start of the match, Saint Joseph's College paid tribute to the team's seven seniors: Doug MacCallum, Greg Cavanaugh (Haverhill, MA), Matt Loiselle (Woburn, MA), Andre Cushing (Hampden, ME), Andrew Roberts (Ipswich, MA), Nicholas Burridge (Auburn, NY) and Will Pike (Gorham, ME).
LaFreniere kicked off the scoring in the 32nd minute of play. Brandon Noltkamper ‘11(Bath, ME) heaved an effective throw-in to MacCallum, who deflected the ball with a header to LaFreniere. The rookie forward received the pass and knocked the ball past Raiders keeper John Jarvis '11 (Henniker, NH) with a high header to the center of the net. MacCallum was credited with an assist on the play.
Despite a plethora of scoring chances, the Monks' 1-0 cushion stood for the next 33 minutes. At the 64:30 mark, MacCallum netted his 10th goal of the year on a slick deflection, to the bottom left corner of the goal, off a Paul Robins '11 (Cornwall, England) shot attempt. Robins notched a helper on the tally.
LaFreniere completed his first collegiate multi-goal effort, and capped the game scoring, 10 minutes later when he headed a ball to the top right corner of the net off a perfect pass from Jesse West '12 (Sheldon, VT).
Jarvis made four stops in net for the visitors, while Pike was not required to make a save in the triumph.
The contest closes out the regular season for both teams. An official announcement from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference regarding playoff seedings, brackets and game times is anticipated to be posted shortly.
|
| Head Coach Steve Babineau, Will
Pike, Matt Loiselle, Asst. Coach Jeff Yaeger, Nicholas Burridge, Andre Cushing, Doug MacCallum, Andrew Roberts, Greg Cavanaugh, Asst. Coach Shaun Breton |
Rivier (3-13) vs. St. Joseph's (Me.) (11-7-1)
Date: Oct 28, 2009 Attendance: 75
Weather: cloudy
Goals by period 1 2
Tot
-------------------------------
Rivier.............. 0 0 - 0
St. Joseph's (Me.).. 1 2 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY:
1. 31:24 SJMMS Jack Lafreniere (Doug MacCallum)
2. 64:30 SJMMS Doug MacCallum (Paul Robins)
3. 74:22 SJMMS Jack Lafreniere (Jesse West)
Shots: Rivier 1, St. Joseph's (Me.) 22
Saves: Rivier 4 (John Jarvis 4), St. Joseph's (Me.) 0 ()
