STANDISH, Maine – the national and regional weekly men's soccer rankings have been released and Saint Joseph's is now 17th in the in the D3Soccer.com national poll and sixth in the United Soccer Coaches weekly New England poll.
The Monks, 18-0-1 overall with a 9-0-1 record in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play, move up from 19th in the national ranking and jump one rung on the regional ladder after posting GNAC Tournament wins over Regis (Mass.) (6-0) and Norwich University (1-0) last week.
With the win over Norwich, Saint Joseph's claimed the GNAC Championship – and the conference's automatic NCAA Tournament berth - for the second-consecutive season. The Monks will face Mitchell College at 1:00 PM Saturday at Tufts University in Medfield, Massachusetts.
Through 19 contests, the Monks have outscored their foes by an impressive 65-0 margin with 1,730 minutes of shutout play in goal. Saint Joseph's currently ranks as the NCAA DIII leader in save percentage (1.000), goals against average (0.00), shutout percentage (1.000), shots per game (23.84), and shots on goal per game (12.11).
The Monks also rank third nationally in won-lost-tied percentage (.974), fifth in assists per game (3.16), points per game (10.00) and total assists (60), eighth in total goals (65) and total points (190), and 10th in corner kicks per game (7.26).
With 19-consecutive shutouts, Saint Joseph's now owns the NCAA Men's Soccer (all three levels) record, which was previously held by Drew University as the Rangers posted 17 straight blank sheets during the 2003 campaign.
Saint Joseph's is the only NCAA program - men's or women's, levels DI, DII, and DIII - to have not yet allowed a goal. The Monks are also one of just three NCAA DIII men's programs to have not yet suffered a setback.
In 19 games this fall, Saint Joseph's has shattered the program's previous single-season records for goals (65), assists (59), points (189), longest winning streak (14), and consecutive shutouts (19). The Monks' 14-game winning streak is the fourth longest current run in NCAA DIII Men's Soccer.
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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.
