Monks Trounce Owls, 5-0

Monks Trounce Owls, 5-0

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (1-2-0) blanked University of Maine-Presque Isle (0-4-1), 5-0, in a non-conference men's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Saturday afternoon. Freshman forward Austin Bell (Gorham, Maine) netted his first two collegiate goals in the lopsided victory.

Underclassmen accounted for all of the Monks' scoring in the result, which goes in the record books as the first career win for first-year Head Coach Adrain Dubois - the eighth skipper in the history of the Saint Joseph's men's soccer program.

Sophomore Victor Santos (Framingham, Mass.) opened the scoring in the 10th minute with an unassisted tally. Following an offside call against the Owls on the Monks' defensive end, senior keeper Robert Petrosillo (Methuen, Mass.) unleashed a booming kick into Presque Isle territory. Santos, who gathered the ball and quickly found a seam in the Owls' defense, streaked towards the left goalpost and delivered a strike to the top right corner of the net to put the hosts on top at the 9:19 mark.

Bell doubled the Monks' cushion 15 minutes later when he potted his first NCAA marker on a tremendous individual effort. Taking advantage of a botched clearing attempt by Presque Isle, Bell found himself with the ball near the top of the box and eluded several defenders before booting a kick to the top right corner, making it a 2-0 match with 20:40 remaining in the first half.

The Monks took advantage of a foul in the box at the 34:43 mark, when sophomore Daniel Malone (Laconia, N.H.) was tackled by Owls sophomore goalkeeper Caleb Bragg-Grady (Whitefield, Maine). Coach Dubois tabbed Bell to take the subsequent penalty kick shot, and the rookie responded with a rope to the right corner of the goal, providing the Royal Blue with a cozy 3-0 lead heading into intermission.

Sophomore Jack Murray (Hingham, Mass.) tacked on the first goal of his college career off a Garrett Darnell (Gray, Maine) pass in the 51st minute and freshman Justin Karageorge (Plainville, Mass.) capped the game scoring with his first NCAA tally in the 76th minute. Junior Ralph Houanche (Port-au-Prince, Haiti) was credited with an assist on the game's final goal.

Petrosillo earned the victory in goal after making three saves over 45 minutes of shutout play in the first half while freshman Hugo Palacios (Revere, Mass.) added a pair of stops in the second half. Bragg-Grady recorded 10 saves in a losing effort for the visitors.

Saint Joseph's outshot Presque Isle by a 20-6 margin and owned a 4-2 edge in corner kicks on the afternoon. With the win, the Monks improve to 13-10-1 in the history of the series against Maine-Presque Isle. Prior to today, Saint Joseph's had not scored more than four goals in a game against the Owls. The five-goal total equals the series high originally posted by Presque Isle in a 5-4 win over St. Joe's on September 21st, 1991.

Saint Joseph's returns to the pitch tomorrow afternoon when the Monks play host to non-conference opponent Endicott College in a 2:00 PM kick-off. Presque Isle hosts Unity College in what will be the Owls' 2014 home-opener at 3:00 PM on Saturday, September 13th.

 

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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 430-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.