STANDISH, ME - Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (13-7-1, 7-2 GNAC) will host #6 Emerson College (12-7, 6-4 GNAC) in the 2009 Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's Soccer on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 PM Championship at Westerlea Way Field.
HOW THEY GOT HERE...
St. Joe's hosted a conference semifinal on Tuesday and defeated #4 Norwich, 2-1, behind goals from Jesse West '12 (Enosburg Falls, VT) and Jack LaFreniere '13 (Alton, NH). The Monks, who topped #8 Johnson & Wales, 3-0, in the opening round, surrendered their first goal scored by a GNAC foe at home all season in the 84th minute, but keeper Will Pike '10 (Gorham, ME) played well and made three stops in the triumph.
Emerson upset second-seeded Lasell College in the other semifinal, also by a 2-1 score. A pair of first-half goals, the first by Chris Nenshati '13 (Swampscott, MA) and the eventual game-winner by Ken Nikravesh '12 (Geneva, Switzerland), sealed the win for the Lions. Emerson keeper Noah Price '12 (Apex, NC) recorded four saves to help the Lions, who also upset #3 Suffolk, 1-0, in the first round, advance.
Eight out of the ten GNAC men's soccer teams advance to the championship following each season. Click here to view an updated bracket.
ON A ROLL...
The Monks defeated the Lions 2-0 in Boston on October 4th with the help of goals from Doug MacCallum '10 (Hingham, MA) and Paul Robins '11 (Cornwall, England). Pike recorded eight saves while his counterpart, Emerson keeper Nick Strauss '10 (Norwood, MA) made five stops.
Emerson has been one of the hottest teams in the conference, if not the region, in the last month after starting the season with a paltry 1-5 record. Since the Monks defeated them in early October, the Lions have won 9 of 10 and outscored opponents by a combined score of 23-10. Emerson's only setback in the past month was a 1-0 loss to Albertus Magnus on October 17th. The Lions have also developed into one of the league's best offensive sides and lead the league in shots taken (310) and rank fourth in goals scored (40).
Saint Joseph's has also played particularly well of late, with a 5-1 record over the last six matches. Of the Monks' seven losses, four have come to teams ranked in the top eight in the region, including Bowdoin and Amherst. St. Joe's has outscored GNAC opponents by a combined score of 15-4 this fall and the Monks lead the conference in virtually every defensive category, including goals-against average (0.88) and shutouts (11).
KEY PLAYERS...
The Monks are led offensively by the trio of MacCallum, LaFreniere and Robins. MacCallum leads the GNAC with seven game-winners and is tied for second in the conference with 12 goals. His 27 total points places him in a three-way tie for third in the GNAC. LaFreniere ranks second on the SJC side in goals (5) and points (13) and has lit the lamp four times in the past three games. Robins, who fearlessly mans the middle of the field for the Monks, has 4 goals and 4 assists for 12 total points this fall.
Pike has started all 21 games for the Royal Blue and leads the GNAC in goals-against average (0.80), save percentage (.868), shutouts (11) and minutes played (1893:20). The 2008 All-GNAC First Team honoree has received GNAC Keeper of the Week honors five times this fall and owns nearly all SJC single-season and career goalkeeping records.
The Lions offensive front features the top scorer in the conference, Eric Dabdoub '11 (Monterrey, Mexico), who has scored 14 goals and registered 31 total points this season. Casey Shane '10 (New York, NY) is the team's second-leading scorer with 6 goals, 8 assists and 20 points and Mike Giles '11 (Wakefield, RI) has 7 goals and 2 helpers for 16 total points this year.
The Lions have utilized a pair of goalies en route to the championship match. Price has played in 13 games as the Emerson keeper and has posted a 1.91 GAA and a .720 SV%. The Lions are 6-4-0 with him manning the net. Strauss has played in eight games with a 1.88 GAA and a .611 SV% and Emerson is 6-2-0 when he plays.
MEET THE COACHES...
SJC Head Coach Steve Babineau is in his first year as the Monks' skipper. Prior to his time at Saint Joseph's, Babineau served as an assistant coach at University of Southern Maine and University of New England for a total of five years.
Head Coach Jared Scarpaci is his seventh season at the helm for Emerson. His teams have posted a collective 70-60-4 (.539) record and have reached the playoffs in each of his seven years.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING...
The conference rivals have met just three times on the pitch, with Saint Joseph's being the victor each time. Aside from the 2-0 win earlier this year, the Monks topped the Lions 2-1 on October 17th, 2007 and beat them again on October 1st, 2008 by a 5-0 score.
Saint Joseph's will be playing in the program's second consecutive conference championship. The Monks fell to Norwich, 2-1, in the title game on November 8th in Northfield, VT last fall. In its 20th year as a varsity sport at St. Joe's, the men's soccer program has captured the conference crown one time - in 2000 when the Monks defeated Maine-Presque Isle in the Maine Athletic Conference Championship.
Emerson College, one of the original six members of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference formed in 1995, has never won a GNAC Men's Soccer title. The Lions have reached the title match twice, with the last time being 1998 when they lost to Endicott, who has since moved to the Commonwealth Coast Conference, 2-1. Emerson has made the playoffs in each of the 14 seasons in which men's soccer has been a conference sport. In those 14 years, Johnson & Wales leads the way with five tournament championships and is followed by Norwich with four titles.
ST. JOE'S STATISTICS l EMERSON STATISTICS
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| MacCallum | LaFreniere | Robins | Pike |