BOSTON, MA – Saint Joseph's (6-2, 3-1 GNAC) defeated Suffolk University (3-7, 2-2 GNAC), 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer match on Wednesday evening.
Sophomore Zach Johnson (Westbrook, Maine) scored the game-winner in the game's 66th minute as his shot from 10 yards out beat Suffolk goalkeeper James Potter (North Kingston, R.I.) to his right side. Johnson took a feed from sophomore Ross Suleski (Amesbury, Mass.) and bolted up the field with a kick off his left foot to lift the Monks to an important conference victory.
Senior Danny Lloyd (Tegucigalpa, Honduras) scored the Rams' lone goal as he converted on a penalty kick eleven minutes into the contest. Lloyd scored his team-leading seventh goal of the season when he deked Monks' goalie Kenny Grade (Hampton, N.H.) to move to his right as he pushed home a shot to the left side of the goal for the first score of the contest.
The Monks would even the game with a minute remaining in the first half after Suffolk controlled most of the offensive tempo early on. Senior Jesse West (Sheldon, Vt.) headed in a loose ball off of a free kick by freshman Ryan Jordan (Standish, Maine) to even the game at one.
Suffolk held a 23-17 margin in shots during the contest, including a 14-10 edge in the first half, but could not capitalize on their opportunities.
Lloyd recorded nine shots in the contest, as he nearly scored in the game's seventh minute when he made several individual moves to push past the Monks' defense, but his shot ricocheted off the goal post.
Grade made 10 saves in the contest to improve to 3-2 on the season. Potter was once again solid in net for the Rams, despite the loss as the freshman keeper made 11 saves.
With the result Saint Joseph's improves to 2-3 in the history of the series with Suffolk and defeats the Rams for the first time since the 2008 campaign. St. Joe's, with six wins all last season, has not notched six wins in the month of September since the 2000 season. The Monks proceeded to win the program's first conference crown, a Maine Athletic Conference (MAC) title, that year.
Both teams will face conference opponents on the road this coming Saturday afternoon. Saint Joseph's takes on Emmanuel College (4-2-4, 1-2 GNAC) in a 1:00 PM kickoff while Suffolk battles Anna Maria College (1-9-1, 0-3 GNAC) at 2:30 PM.
