PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Saint Joseph's College (9-4-1, 5-2-0 GNAC) fell to reigning conference champion Johnson & Wales University (11-4-0, 6-1-0 GNAC), 3-2, in a GNAC men's soccer match on Saturday afternoon. The loss brings the Monks' seven-game winning streak to a close.
THE LEAD
Saint Joseph's fell victim to a pair of own goals in the first half, as Johnson & Wales took advantage of some miscommunication on the Monks' defensive end to stake a 2-0 lead heading into intermission. Freshman Rory Twomey (South Windsor, Conn.) cut the Monks' lead in half with his third goal of the season at the 53:29 mark, but the Wildcats resumed the two-goal cushion just over a minute later. Freshman forward Brett Mattos (Mahopac, N.Y.) made it a 3-2 game when he potted his 11th marker of the year in the 65th minute, but JWU withstood a furious closing-minutes rally by the Monks to claim the conference win.
BEYOND THE BOX:
The Monks were excruciatingly close to tying the match on several occasions in the closing minutes.
The series of close calls began when sophomore Austin Bell (Gorham, Maine) appeared to have netted the tying tally in the 86th minute, but the score was negated on a questionable offside call. Three minutes later, St. Joe's was awarded a corner kick, with the play resulting in a shot by junior midfielder Johnny Thomas (Boston, Mass.), but his attempt to the top right corner was headed out of the net by a JWU defender. Lastly, freshman Mitchell Cyr (Rochester, N.H.) clanged a shot off the crossbar near the 89-minute mark.
GOAL HISTORY
1. 6:33 JWUMS Tucker MacPherson (unassisted) own goal
MacPherson earned credit for the game's first goal after a clearing attempt by Cyr caromed off the back of junior Sean Baker (Medway, Mass.) and into the SJC goal.
2. 40:10 JWUMS Chris Schmid (unassisted) own goal
Schmid made it a 2-0 game when his crossing pass attempt ricocheted off Baker into the back of the net.
3. 53:29 SJMMS15 Rory Twomey (Brett Mattos)
The Monks finally got on the board with the help of Mattos, who won a 50-50 ball and needled it through traffic to Twomey, who one-timed a kick from the corner of the six to the back post.
4. 54:50 JWUMS Byron Arboleda (Doug Kase)
Arboleda scored his sixth of the season on a header after Kase launched a ball into the box.
5. 64:51 SJMMS15 Brett Mattos (Dalton Gaumer)
Freshman defender Dalton Gaumer (Riverside, Calif.) set up a beautiful goal by Mattos, as the first-year standout launched a kick from near midfield to the top of the box, where Mattos jumped over a defender and flicked a header into the left corner.
THE KEEPERS
SJC freshman netminder Blake Mullen (Manchester, Conn.) made three saves in the loss while JWU keeper Nick Tolman recorded one stop for the hosts.
TEAM STATS
Johnson & Wales owned a 12-7 lead in shots and a 7-6 edge in corner kicks on the afternoon. JWU was slapped with seven fouls while SJC committed six infractions in the conference contest.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING
With the setback, Saint Joseph's falls to 7-7 all-time against Johnson & Wales University, a team that has now defeated the Monks in five-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2012 season.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will travel to Lyndon State College tomorrow for a 2:00 PM non-conference contest.
#GOMONKS
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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 474-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.
