October 8, 2011

STANDISH, ME – Rivier College (4-6-1, 2-4 GNAC) slipped past Saint Joseph's (5-4-2, 4-3-2 GNAC), 2-1, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Saturday afternoon. Monks junior defender Casey Monaghan (Portland, Maine) netted her first collegiate goal in the losing effort.

The conference contest was scoreless until the 37:44 mark when Rivier sophomore midfielder Mariah Payne (Concord, N.H.) booted a shot to the bottom left corner of the net past SJC keeper Jaci Lorenzen '14 (Windham, Maine). Sophomore Hillary Hee (Colchester, Vt.) was credited with an assist on the opening goal.

Raiders senior striker Deanna Cetto (Sterling, Mass.) staked the visitors to a 2-0 advantage when she scored off a Kiara Still '15 (Milford, Mass.) feed in the 53rd minute.

Despite multiple scoring opportunities in the second half, the Monks would not get on the board until the 87:24 mark when Monaghan unleashed a long shot – well past the 18 - that sailed into the top of the net, beyond the reach of Rivier keeper Christine Surber '14 (Langdon, N.H.).

Unfortunately for the Monks, the score proved to be too little, too late. The Royal Blue seemed to feed off the goal with a resulting uptick in play, but the Raiders managed to control the ball late to preserve the victory by the slimmest of margins.

In net, Lorenzen turned away three shots while her counterpart, Surber, tallied four saves.

The Monks and Raiders both had nine shots on the afternoon while St. Joe's carried a 3-2 edge in corner kicks in the loss.

With the result, Saint Joseph's falls to 3-2 in the history of the series with Rivier College. The Raiders have now defeated the Monks in back to back meetings.

St. Joe's will host Johnson & Wales University in a key conference matchup on Monday at 1:00 PM while Rivier takes on Albertus Magnus College at home the same day in a 3:30 PM kickoff.