EAST PROVIDENCE, RI – Saint Joseph's (8-4, 5-2 GNAC) defeated Johnson & Wales (4-9-1, 2-4-1 GNAC), 4-2, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer match on Monday. Senior Mike Sanfilippo (Walpole, Mass.) tallied a goal and an assist in the victory.
St. Joe's took the early advantage when Sanfilippo put in a cross from sophomore Zach Johnson (Westbrook, Maine) just 17:40 into the contest. The Monks struck again in the 23rd minute when sophomore Ross Suleski (Amesbury, Mass.) lofted in a shot from 35 yards out to put the Monks up 2-0.
JWU climbed back into the game at the 25:11 mark when freshman Kyle Metz (St. James, N.Y.) scored on a breakaway to cut the lead to 2-1. The visitors would take the 2-1 lead into halftime after holding a 10-4 advantage in shots for the half.
After battling back and forth throughout the early stages of the second half, the Monks tallied what would prove to be the game-winner when Johnson scored at the 66:42 mark for the 3-1 lead. The Monks added an insurance goal in the 85th minute as an unassisted goal by Ali Hersi (Lewiston, Maine) made the score 4-1.
The Wildcats continued to attack, however and freshman Cameron Pezzino (Grand Island, N.Y.) cut the deficit to 4-2 when he put in a free kick from 30 yards out with just over three minutes left in regulation. It would not be enough, however as Saint Joseph's held on for the 4-2 victory.
Freshman Ryan Dzierawski (Oakland, Mich.) recorded five saves in the loss for JWU while sophomore Kenny Grade (Hampton, N.H.) had three stops in the win for the Monks.
Saint Joseph's held a 16-6 advantage in shots and a 7-2 edge in corner kicks in the two-goal victory. The Monks, who topped Rivier by a 4-0 margin on Saturday, have not scored four goals in back to back games since the side defeated Maine-Machias and Maine-Farmington by identical 4-0 scores late in the 1998 season.
With the triumph, St. Joe's improves to 7-2 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales. The Monks have now defeated the Wildcats in six consecutive meetings dating back to the 2007 season.
With three conference contests remaining the Monks sit in a tie second in the GNAC standings with Emerson College. St. Joe's plays at Lasell College (6-3-3, 3-2-2 GNAC) on October 15th, at Emerson (7-6, 5-2 GNAC) on October 19th, and hosts Mount Ida College (5-7, 4-4 GNAC) in the regular-season finale on October 22nd.
St. Joe's will host Worcester State University on Wednesday in a non-conference contest - postponed from September 8th - slated to kick off at 3:30 PM. The Wildcats will return to action on Saturday, October 15th when they travel to Emerson for a GNAC contest at 1:00 PM.