STANDISH, ME - The Saint Joseph's College men's soccer team went 10-7-2 overall and 6-3-1 in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play under the watch of fourth-year Head Coach Steve Babineau last fall.

The Monks, facing lofty expectations after claiming the program's second GNAC Championship in three seasons the year prior, experienced a slow start and owned a 4-6-2 record overall after a loss at Bowdoin College on October 2nd.

But the Saint Joseph's side, which returned eight starters from the 2011 championship team, went on to tie a program record with six-consecutive victories, a string that included four GNAC triumphs and a trio of overtime conquests. The late-season push propelled the Monks to the #3 seed in the 2012 GNAC Tournament, but St. Joe's was upset by an upstart Emerson College program in the quarterfinal round as a 3-0 setback would bring the Monks' campaign to a close.

The premature end to the season was certainly disappointing, but the Royal Blue can draw many positives from a season that featured considerable peaks and valleys. The Monks displayed growth in many aspects as the team was forced to overcome several bouts of adversity throughout the year.

The 2012 season began with an appearance in the USM Soccer Classic in Gorham, where Saint Joseph's would play two games beginning with an August 31st matchup with the Huskies. The Monks trailed for the majority of play, but managed to score three goals in a seven-minute span late in the contest to steal a 3-2 victory over their in-state rival. Freshman midfielder Ralph Houanche (Portland, Maine) registered his first NCAA tally in the 81st minute, a goal that went down in the books as the game-winner.

As it played out, Saint Joseph's would not taste victory again for over two weeks. The Monks dropped a 1-0 decision, in overtime, to UMass.-Dartmouth in the second of two USM Soccer Classic contests on September 1st and settled for a two-all stalemate with Thomas College five days later. The overtime theme continued with a 2-1 OT loss at the hands of GNAC-rival Johnson & Wales University on September 8th.

The Monks went on to suffer hard-fought losses at the hands of Bates College (3-1) and eventual conference champion Albertus Magnus College (2-0) before finally falling on the right side of the ledger with an extra-play triumph over Mount Ida College on September 15th.

Trailing 1-0 versus the Mustangs midway through the second half, the Monks ended a 228-minute scoring drought with a goal at the 63:16 mark from senior midfielder Teddy Palmer (Scarborough, Maine) to knot the contest at one-apiece. The stalemate remained until the sixth minute of overtime, when Houanche netted his second game-winner of the year to lift Saint Joseph's to the side's first conference win of the season.

The victory seemed to get the Monks going, as the Royal Blue transformed the triumph into a three-game winning streak with wins over Maine-Farmington (2-0) and Emerson (2-1) on September 19th and 22nd, respectively. Junior forward Zach Johnson (Westbrook, Maine) potted the game-winner in both contests.

The win streak came to a screeching halt on September 30th, when the Monks suffered a 3-2 loss at the hands of Emmanuel College. St. Joe's held a 2-1 edge over the Saints with 17:10 remaining, but the visitors managed to score twice in a matter of 44 seconds to claim the GNAC triumph. With the loss, Saint Joseph's fell to 4-5-2 overall and 2-3-1 in GNAC play.

Two days later the Monks faced perhaps their toughest test of the season, as the Royal Blue traveled to Brunswick to face off against Bowdoin College, which was ranked seventh in New England at the time. Saint Joseph's held its own and freshman goalkeeper Scott Benner (Post Falls, Idaho) tallied seven saves, but the offense was unable to generate a serious scoring chance in a 4-0 loss.

Unsure of what to expect from this team after such uneven results, no one could have predicted a six-game winning streak heading into the playoffs. The string began with a thrilling double-overtime victory over Norwich University on October 6th. The 2011 GNAC Championship rematch would turn in the Monks' favor yet again, as the Royal Blue netted a team goal in the 81st minute to negate a 50th-minute marker for the Cadets and Saint Joseph's managed to net the winner with 5:01 remaining in the second OT frame.

Saint Joseph's edged Anna Maria College, 1-0, two days later as Johnson notched the winner in the 18th minute and the Monks bested Endicott College, 1-0 in OT, in non-conference action at home on October 10th. Palmer scored just 1:29 into extra play to lift St. Joe's to the program's first victory over the Gulls in seven tries.

Saint Joseph's played in its eighth overtime contest of the season versus Rivier University three days later. The host-Raiders countered an Alex Day (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) fourth-minute goal nine minutes later and the 1-1 stalemate stood for over 105 minutes, as Johnson scored the clincher with just 2:14 remaining in the final OT period.

After producing four-consecutive one-goal victories, the Monks were able to relax a bit in a 3-0 triumph over Maine-Presque Isle on October 14th. Johnson, Calvin Servaes (Hull, Mass.) and Day accounted for the SJC offense in the victory over Coach Babineau's alma mater.

The Monks closed out the regular season with a 2-1 win over GNAC foe Lasell College at Westerlea Way Field on October 22nd. Johnson and Joe Murphy (Poland, Maine) scored for the Royal Blue and Benner made six saves in the victory, which was the Monks' first regular-season triumph over the Lasers and also clinched the #3 seed in the conference tournament for Saint Joseph's.

Facing #6 Emerson in GNAC Tournament Quarterfinal action on October 27th, Saint Joseph's saw a scoreless tie quickly turn into a 3-0 deficit as the Lions potted three goals in a matter of nine minutes to sink the Monks along with their aspirations of repeating as conference champs.

The season-ending loss signaled the close of collegiate soccer for the Monks' two seniors: Palmer and Day. Palmer, a two-time All-GNAC midfielder, played in 55 games with six goals and three assists over three seasons and Day tallied three goals and two helpers in 29 career contests while donning the Royal Blue.

NOTEWORTHY INDIVIDUAL PERFORMANCES:

• Johnson claimed Second Team All-Conference honors after leading the Monks in goals (6), points (13) and game-winners (5) during his junior season.
• Murphy, one of the most imposing backs in the conference, earned All-GNAC accolades for the first time with a Third Team nomination.
• Benner emerged as a fine goalkeeper and improved as the season progressed during his freshman campaign. The rookie posted a 1.20 goals against average and a .800 save percentage with three shutouts and 72 saves in 1346 minutes between the pipes.

Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.