STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (0-1) suffered a season-opening 6-1 setback at the hands of University of New England (1-0) in non-conference women's soccer action at Westerlea Way Field on Thursday afternoon.

THE LEAD

Saint Joseph's freshman forward Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) opened the game scoring off a Colleen Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) assist just 5:58 into the contest, but the visiting Nor'easters quickly put the game out of reach with three goals, including a pair from junior midfielder Edie Pallozzi (Windham, Maine), over the following six minutes and carried a 4-1 advantage into intermission.

UNE tacked on two additional scores early in the second half when Ashley Sherman and Taylor Littlefield hit pay dirt with strikes just 16 seconds apart to account for the 6-1 final.

GOAL HISTORY

Saint Joseph's                      5:58        Haley DaGraca (1) (Colleen Sheehan)

From the right, Sheehan pushed a lead pass up the middle to DaGraca, who put a move on UNE keeper Brielle Robinson (Monson, Mass.) – who left her post to challenge – before slipping the ball into the left corner of an empty net

U. of New England             6:50        Edie Pallozzi (1) (Becca Murphy)

Murphy was denied by SJC keeper Brooke Troup (East Bridgewater, Mass.) on a shot from the left, but the rebound found the foot of Pallozzi, who was unmarked and buried a kick into the right corner

U. of New England             8:12        Taylor Littlefield (Jessica Meader)

Working in the right corner, Meader threaded a perfect right-to-left pass to Littlefield, who was stationed near the left goalpost and finished with a one-timer

U. of New England             12:08     Edie Pallozzi (Becca Murphy)

Murphy fed Pallozzi with a through ball and the junior potted her second goal with a shot just under the dive of Troup

U. of New England             26:08     Rachael Guilford (Taylor Littlefield & Anna Michaud)

Slick tic-tac-toe goal off a corner kick, serviced into the box by Littlefield, with touch pass from Michaud to Guilford who finished with tap shot

-- 2nd --

U. of New England             48:37     Ashley Sherman (Becca Murphy)

Right to left pass from Murphy, Sherman rockets a shot to top right corner from about 25 yards out

U. of New England             48:41     Taylor Littlefield (Ashley Sherman)

Shot taken from near the 18 off cross pass from Sherman to Littlefield

THE KEEPERS

• For the Monks, Troup suffered the loss after making four stops in 84:55 minutes between the pipes
• Freshman Cori Balam (Lyndeborough, N.H.) started in goal for the Monks and was untested in 5:05 minutes of play
• For the Nor'easters, Robinson picks up the victory with five saves in 74:45 minutes
• Sophomore Emily Ashman (Madison, Conn.) did not face a shot in 15:15 minutes of mop-up duty

TEAM STATS

The Nor'easters held advantages in shots (17-13) and corner kicks (6-2) on the afternoon.

NOTEABLE

• DaGraca led all participants with six shots in the losing effort
• Balam, Hailey Tarr (Eliot, Maine), Jade Jordan (Baldwin, Maine), Meredith Picard (Troy, Maine), Peggy Balboni (Millis, Mass.), Lillian Bisset (Jefferson, Maine), Abigael Sweeney (Princeton, Mass.), and Hannah Butler (Melrose, Mass.) all made their collegiate debuts in today's contest

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 13-11-3 in the history of the series with University of New England and has now suffered four-consecutive losses at the hands of the Nor'easters…the Monks are now 15-13-1 all-time in season-openers and have dropped three-consecutive inaugural contests, all at the hands of UNE.

NEXT!

This weekend, Saint Joseph's plays a pair of games in Bangor as the Monks compete in the 12th Annual Husson Classic. On Saturday, St. Joe's faces tourney-host Husson University in a 6:30 PM start and cap the trip with an 11:00 AM match-up versus Western New England University on Sunday.

Next Wednesday, University of New England hosts Husson in a non-conference contest slated for a 6:00 PM start. 

#GOMONKS

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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.