STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (11-0-2, 6-0-1 GNAC) defeated University of Saint Joseph (8-4-0, 4-2-0 GNAC), 3-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's soccer contest at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Sophomore Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.) lifted the Monks to a 1-0 lead when he netted his fifth goal of the year off a Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine) pass at the 11:47 mark. Duncan fed Onyejose with a well-placed through ball in the box and the second-year standout evaded two defenders before slipping a shot to the lower left corner of the net.
The hosts continued to have scoring chances and the pressure paid off at the 42:30 mark when sophomore Austin Ward (North Andover, Mass.) connected for his sixth tally of the season off a Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) pass. Possessing the ball in the right side of the box, Ward let fly a shot that ricocheted off the left post and off a USJ defender into the net to make it a 2-0 game.
Senior Keenan Welzel (Brunswick, Maine) closed out the game scoring with his first marker of the year in the 59th minute. Set up with a feed from Onyejose near the top of the box, Welzel beat USJ keeper John Griffin with a shot to the lower right corner.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC junior starter David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) turned away the only two shots he faced to record his sixth shutout of the season. Griffin kept the Blue Jays in the game with 13 saves, including several diving stops.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held the lead in shots (20-2), shots on goal (16-2), and corner kicks (6-1) in the conference victory.
NOTEWORTHY:
- With the win the Monks extend their regular-season undefeated streak to 64 games
- St. Joe's has not allowed a goal in the last 808:11 minutes of play with eight-consecutive shutouts
- Saint Joseph's is one of just three NCAA DIII Men's Soccer teams to have not suffered a loss this fall – Roanoke (11-0-2) and Amherst (9-0-2) are the others
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 2-0 versus University of Saint Joseph, which is in its second year as a co-educational institution. The Monks blanked the Blue Jays by a 5-0 margin in West Hartford last fall.
SENIOR MOMENT:
Prior to the start of the game the Monks held a brief ceremony to honor the program's seven seniors: Ryan Buonaiuto (Scituate, R.I.), Mitchell Duncan (Sanford, Maine), Cody Elliott (Gorham, Maine), Brennan Goodrich (Essex Junction, Vt.), Noah Robinson (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), Jackson Taylor (Gorham, Maine), and Keenan Welzel (Brunswick, Maine).
During what is arguably the most impressive four-year span posted by a program in SJC Athletics history, this senior class has played a hand in 79 games with an incredible 66-3-10 (.835) overall record, including an undefeated 34-0-3 (.919) mark in conference play, with three GNAC Championships and three NCAA Tournament appearances.
Over the last four seasons, the Monks have tallied 65 shutouts and outscored their opponents by a 223-21 margin.
NEXT!
The Monks are off until next Saturday when the team travels to Emmanuel College for a 12:00 PM conference contest.