STANDISH, Maine – Top-seeded Saint Joseph's College (14-1-2) blanked #8 Colby-Sawyer College, 3-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Soccer Tournament Quarterfinal at the SJC Athletics Complex on Saturday night.
PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's advances to the GNAC semifinal round and will host #5 University of Saint Joseph (12-4-1) on Tuesday evening at 5:00 PM. The Blue Jays defeated #4 Albertus Magnus College by a 4-0 score in other quarterfinal action earlier today.
For Colby-Sawyer, the loss signals the end of the 2021 campaign.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Playing in driving rain for most of the contest, the Monks scored what proved to be the game-winning goal just 1:46 into play, as graduate students Noah Elmore (Berlin, Vt.) and Colin Grant (Harvard, Mass.) connected to lift the hosts to an early edge. Grant found a seam down the right side of the field and delivered a right-to-left cross in the box to Elmore, who finished with a sliding kick into the net with a Colby-Sawyer defender on his back.
St. Joe's struck again eight minutes later when freshman Gus Ford (Falmouth, Maine) chipped a header up and over the reach of Chargers keeper Lucas Boetsch (Rockport, Maine). Senior Jackson Fotter (Gorham, Maine) was credited with an assist on the play.
The 2-0 cushion remained until the 82:19 mark when sophomore Icaro Vieira (Westborough, Mass.) netted his second goal of the season off a double assist from Elmore and senior Kuma Onyejose (East Greenwich, R.I.). Elmore carried the ball down the right side and dealt a crossing pass near the right post, where Onyejose flicked the ball to Vieira for a slick header tally.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held considerable advantages in shots (36-3), shots on goal (17-1) and corner kicks (7-1) in the triumph.
THE KEEPERS:
SJC netminder David Walbridge (Hampden, Mass.) made one save in the shutout performance while Boetsch kept his team within striking distance for the better part of the game by making 14 saves, including several of highlight-reel quality.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 6-0-1 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College, which joined the Great Northeast Athletic Conference in the fall of 2018. In five meetings as conference foes, the Monks have outscored the Chargers by a collective 12-0 margin.
