STANDISH, ME – Saint Joseph's College (14-5-0, 7-3-0 GNAC) and Trinity College (10-5-2, 6-2-2 NESCAC) will face off in the opening round of the 2011 NCAA DIII Men's Soccer National Tournament on Saturday. The match will be played at Hartwell-Rogers Field on the campus of Babson College, an NCAA tourney pod-host, at 1:30 PM.

Babson and Lesley University will play at 11:00 AM on Saturday, with the victor of that contest moving on to play the Monks/Bantams winner in the second round at Hartwell-Rogers Field on Sunday at 1:00 PM. 

How they got here:

Saint Joseph's, the #2 seed in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament, defeated #4 Norwich University, 4-1, in the GNAC Championship at Westerlea Way Field on Saturday. Zach Johnson '14 (Westbrook, Maine), Mike Sanfilippo '12 (Walpole, Mass.), Dan McIntyre '14 (Sparta, N.J.) and Ali Hersi '15 (Lewiston, Maine) netted the SJC goals while netminder Kenny Grade '14 (Hampton, N.H./St. Thomas Aquinas) posted five saves in the victory.

Trinity College lost to Amherst College – the #4 team in the country according to the latest NSCAA poll – by a 2-0 tally in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) Championship on Sunday afternoon. Despite the loss the Bantams, which enter the tourney ranked sixth in New England, collected an at-large bid into the national tournament.

The last time we met:

Saint Joseph's College and Trinity College have never met on the soccer pitch. The two teams share one common opponent this season – Worcester State University. The Bantams suffered a 1-0 setback at the hands of the Lancers on September 13th while the Monks toppled Worcester, 4-0, on October 12th.

According to records possessed by the St. Joe's Sports Information Department, the two New England institutions have met just six times across all sports, with the Bantams owning a 5-1 record versus the Monks. The only SJC victory occurred when the Royal Blue handled the Bantams, 79-37, in a women's basketball game on December 4th, 1978.

The last time St. Joe's and Trinity competed was on March 13th, 2004 when the Bantams swept the Monks' baseball team, 5-2 and 5-4, during a spring break trip to Clearwater, Florida.

What have you done lately?

St. Joe's rolls into the NCAA tourney having won five in a row for the first time since the 2008 campaign and the third time in the 22-year history of the program. After dropping two straight games – both shutout setbacks - to start the month of October, the Monks have rattled off eight wins in nine contests and outscored opponents by a 29-8 margin during the stretch.

Trinity has also played well of late with wins in five of the side's last six contests. The Bantams suffered three consecutive 1-0 losses early in October, but rebounded with five straight triumphs with the streak coming to an end in the NESCAC Championship.

NCAA Tournament History:

For St. Joe's, the NCAA Tournament appearance will be the second in team history. After topping Emerson College in the 2009 GNAC final, the Monks advanced to the national tourney and fell to Wesleyan College, 2-0, in the opening round. Wesleyan, ranked 11th in the country at the time, advanced all the way to the Sweet 16 that year.

Trinity will be making its fourth national tournament appearance - three of which took place in the 1960's - and first since 1997, when the Bantams defeated Ramapo in the first round before falling to Kean University in the second. Of all the teams in this year's field that have appeared in the NCAA Tournament in the past, none have had a longer span between appearances than the Bantams' 14 years.

Recipe for success:

A revamped defense has helped the Monks turn a corner this season, as the side ranks second in the GNAC in goals against average (0.99), goals allowed (19) and save percentage (.816) and has allowed more than two goals in just three games all fall. St. Joe's has outscored opponents by a 43-19 margin this season, with the goal differential and goal tally both ranking as all-time program-highs. Having been shut out just twice all year, the SJC offense has proven to be opportunistic and timely with big goals at the right moments.

Trinity also features a stingy defense as the Bantams have allowed just 10 goals all year and only one team – Amherst – has managed to score two goals in a game against them. Trinity currently ranks 11th in the country in save percentage (.878), 20th in goals against average (0.61) and 61st in shutout percentage (47%). Offensively, the Bantams average 1.18 goals per game with 20 total tallies in 17 contests this fall.

Attitude reflects leadership:

Head Coach Steve Babineau (34-24-3, .586), now in his third season at Saint Joseph's, has guided the Royal Blue to the conference tournament in each of his three years including a pair of GNAC Championships and both of the side's NCAA Tournament appearances.

Trinity Head Coach Michael Pilger has led the Bantams to a 53-56-8 (.486) record over the last eight seasons and possesses a 199-141-33 (.585) in 23 years as an NCAA DIII skipper. Although this will be his first trip to the NCAA's with Trinity, Coach Pilger is no stranger to the big stage as he has guided six teams to the national tournament during his career, taking Kenyon in 1990 and 1991 and Rochester in 1993, 1995 and 1997.

Who to watch:

Johnson, a First Team All-GNAC selection, leads the Monks in goals (17), game-winners (8) and points (38) and ranks 11th in the nation in goals and 14th in points. The sophomore forward broke the SJC single-season goals record with a bicycle-kick marker in the GNAC Championship game and snapped the game-winning tally mark in the conference semifinals.

Second Team All-GNAC honoree Mike Sanfilippo ranks second on the team in goals (8) and points (20) and Ross Suleski '14 (Amesbury, Mass./St. Thomas Aquinas) paces the side in assists (9) and is third in total points (15). In net, Grade has enjoyed a breakout year and boasts a 1.02 goals against average to go with an .811 save percentage and five shutouts as a first-year starter.

Dan Mayernick is the Bantams' leader in goals (9), game-clinchers (5) and points (21) while Anthony El-Hachem and Julian Gocksch have both netted three markers this fall.

Senior goalkeeper Grant Schonberg (Mendham, N.J.) ranks 14th in the nation in save percentage (.877) and 23rd in goals against average (0.61). the 2010 Second Team All-NESCAC honoree boasts eight shutouts and has logged all 1577 minutes between the pipes for the Bantams this fall.