STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (13-1-2, 12-0-0 GNAC) will host #8 Colby-Sawyer College (5-9-0, 5-7-0 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal game at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday at 5:00 PM.

OVERVIEW:

Saturday's winner advances to the semifinal round of the GNAC tourney and will face the victor of the #4 Albertus Magnus College / #5 University of Saint Joseph quarterfinal on Tuesday, November 2nd.

The other quarterfinal contests within the conference bracket consist of #2 Norwich University versus #7 Emmanuel College and #3 Johnson & Wales University versus #6 Regis College.

The winner of the GNAC Championship game, which will be played on Saturday, November 6th, earns an automatic berth into the 2021 NCAA DIII Men's Soccer Championship, which begins on Saturday, Nov. 13th.

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

Saint Joseph's:

• The Monks have been ranked seventh in the United Soccer Coaches Region 1 Poll for four-consecutive weeks and are listed ninth in the most recent NCAA DIII Region 1 Rankings
• Through 16 contests, Saint Joseph's has outscored opponents by a combined 38-11 score with eight shutouts; in GNAC play, the Monks have netted 33 goals while allowing just four in 12 games
• With their triumph over Dean College on Tuesday, the Monks extended their GNAC regular-season undefeated streak to 54 games (50-0-4)
• St. Joe's is 37-1-2 (.925) with 31 shutouts all-time at the SJC Athletics Complex
• The Monks head into the tournament ranked second in the conference in goals against average (0.66), shutouts (8) and assists (35) and third in shots (267), goals scored (38), shots per game (16.7), shots on goal (124), and corner kicks (99)

Colby-Sawyer:

• The Chargers enter the postseason ranked fifth in the conference in shots per game (13.5) and corner kicks (91) and eighth in shots (189)
• Colby-Sawyer averages 1.29 goals per game on 13.5 shots per contest with a 1.58 goals against average
• The Chargers are 4-2-0 in their last six games with conference wins over Dean, Emmanuel, Anna Maria, and Lasell with 1-0 setbacks at the hands of Saint Joseph's and Norwich
• Colby-Sawyer is 2-5-0 on the road this fall – the two wins were at Rivier (5-0) and Emmanuel (1-0)

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Saint Joseph's:

• Graduate student defender Colin Grant (Harvard, Mass.) leads the team in goals (9), points (23), and game-winning goals (4)
• Senior forward Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.) has netted seven goals with five assists for 19 total points
• Senior midfielder Austin Ward (North Andover, Mass.) produced 17 points with six goals and five assists in 14 games
• Freshman forward Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) has emerged as one of the Monks' top offensive threats with four goals and two assists for 10 points

Colby-Sawyer:

• Senior midfielder Mason Galbato (North Easton, Mass.) and junior midfielder Finn Husband (Elk Rapids, Mich.) are tied for the team lead in goals (4) and points
• Freshman midfielder Conner McKearin (Proctor, Vt.) put up three goals and an assist for seven points this fall
• Freshman midfielder Jadon Baros (Colorado Spring, Colo.) has been the Chargers' top playmaker with four assists and six total points

KEEPER COMPARISON:

Saint Joseph's:

Graduate student David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) has picked up right where All-American Blake Mullen '19 left off and is enjoying another fine season as a second-year starter in net for the Monks. Having allowed just nine goals with 60 saves over 1,248 minutes of play, the 2019 GNAC Goalkeeper of the Year sports a conference-best .870 save percentage and currently ranks second in goals against average (0.65).

Among all active NCAA DIII Men's Soccer goalkeepers, Walbridge is ranked third in career save percentage (.862) and fifth in goals against average (0.47).

Colby-Sawyer:

An athletic 6'4" keeper, Lucas Boetsch (Rockport, Maine) enters the tourney with a 1.45 goals against average and a .793 save percentage after yielding 12 goals and posting 46 saves in 746 minutes between the pipes. The senior captain ranks sixth in the GNAC in save percentage and eighth in goals against average.

ATTITUDE REFLFECTS LEADERSHIP:

Saint Joseph's Head Coach Will Pike '11 is in his third season at the helm and currently owns a 29-3-5 (.784) overall record with a 21-0-2 (.913) mark in GNAC play as the SJC skipper. Including three seasons as the Monks' top assistant under former Head Coach Adrian Dubois, Pike has helped St. Joe's post an incredible 84-6-13 (.816) record overall with a 49-0-4 (.925) GNAC slate.

In his first season as the Monks' leader, Coach Pike guided the Royal Blue to a 16-2-3 record with a 9-0-2 mark in GNAC play en route to earning the #2 seed in the conference tourney.

Colby-Sawyer Head Coach Bob Reasso is in his first year as the Chargers' clipboard carrier but is certainly no stranger to college soccer. Prior to joining Colby-Sawyer this fall, Reasso accumulated 436 wins over 35 seasons as an NCAA DI and DII head coach.

Reasso spent most of his career at Rutgers, coaching there for 29 seasons. The Scarlet Knights Hall of Famer compiled a record of 351-183-71, which included 13 NCAA appearances, three Final Fours, six league titles, and a 1990 national championship game appearance.

THE LAST TIME WE MET:

Saint Joseph's edged Colby-Sawyer, 1-0, at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday, October 23rd. The Monks scored the game's lone goal in the 29th minute, when a long lead pass from Colin Grant (Harvard, Mass.) found Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.), who managed to chip a high, odd angle shot, taken from the top right corner of the box, that bounced into an empty net as Boetsch left his post to challenge.

Saint Joseph's held the advantage in shots (16-5), shots on goal (11-3), and corner kicks (7-2) in the conference victory.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is 5-0-1 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College, which joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in the fall of 2018. In four meetings as conference foes, the Monks have outscored the Chargers by a collective 9-0 margin.

Prior to 2018, these two programs had not met on the soccer pitch since the 1991 campaign, which was the Monks' second season as a varsity program.

POSTSEASON HISTORY:

The Monks have advanced to the GNAC Tournament every season since the College joined the conference in the fall of 2007. Saint Joseph's is 19-8 in GNAC postseason play with GNAC Championships in 2009, 2011, 2016, 2017, and 2018.

Colby-Sawyer will be appearing in the GNAC tourney for the third time in as many seasons as a member of the conference and enters the 2021 postseason with a 1-2 record in the GNAC playoffs. The fourth-seeded Chargers opened the 2018 tourney with a 2-0 win over #5 Albertus Magnus College and fell to #1 Saint Joseph's, 2-0, in the semifinal round.

3 Norwich University clipped #6 Colby-Sawyer, 1-0, in a 2019 GNAC Tournament quarterfinal.