STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (9-5-3, 6-1-3 GNAC) blanked Emmanuel College (8-9-1, 5-4-1 GNAC), 2-0, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) women's soccer match at Westerlea Way Field on Wednesday afternoon.

THE LEAD

Sophomore forward Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) netted what proved to be the game-winner in the 24th minute, when she knocked in a header off a perfect right-to-left crossing pass from freshman Peggy Balboni (Millis, Mass.). Junior goalkeeper Brooke Troup (East Bridgewater, Mass.) posted one of her best performances of the season with nine saves in the shutout effort.

For good measure, the Monks doubled their advantage in the 57th minute when senior Desiree Parent (Westborough, Mass.) hit pay-dirt off a DaGraca pass.

THE KEEPERS

As mentioned previously, Troup made nine saves and notched her third shutout of the season while her counterpart, Emmanuel junior Victoria LaRoche (Hudson, N.H.), tallied six stops in a losing effort.

TEAM STATS

The Saints outshot the Monks by a 23-15 margin with a 9-6 lead in shots on goal and a 3-1 corner kicks advantage on the afternoon.

NOTEWORTHY

• Parent paced the Monks with five shots in the triumph
• Emmanuel senior Maggie Carey (Swampscott, Mass.) led all players with seven shots
• Saint Joseph's was close to netting two more goals, as Parent and freshman Jade Jordan (Baldwin, Maine) both clanged shots off the post
• Saints freshman Natalie Dash (East Hampton, Conn.) also steered a shot off the crossbar at the 56:55 mark

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 4-9 in the history of the series with Emmanuel College and brings an end to a three-game losing streak at the hands of the Saints. The Monks' last win over Emmanuel came on October 12th, 2013, which halted a six-game skid versus the Saints at the time.

Also, today's shutout versus Emmanuel is the Monks first in the 13-game matchup between the conference rivals.

NEXT!

Both teams wrap up the GNAC regular season Saturday, when Saint Joseph's hosts Lasell College in a 1:00 PM start and Emmanuel travels to Mount Ida College for a 5:00 PM kick-off.

#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.