STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph’s College (4-3, 1-2 GNAC) raced past University of Southern Maine (2-4, 0-1 LEC), 5-0, in a non-conference women’s soccer game played at the SJC Athletics Complex on Monday evening.
Prior to the start of the game, Saint Joseph’s held a ceremony to celebrate the completion of its $5 million lighted turf and track athletics complex. The facility, construction for which began in the fall of 2016, includes an artificial turf-surfaced and lighted field, an eight-lane track, and on-site parking. Members of the Board of Trustees, President James Dlugos and the Leadership Team, donors, parents, alumni, coaches, students, and staff all gathered in the celebration, which featured a field blessing by Sister Joyce Mahany and brief speeches from President Dlugos and Brian Curtin, the Monks’ Director of Athletics.turf and track athletics complex. The facility, construction for which began in the fall of 2016, includes an artificial turf-surfaced and lighted field, an eight-lane track, and on-site parking. Members of the Board of Trustees, President James Dlugos and the Leadership Team, donors, parents, alumni, coaches, students, and staff all gathered in the celebration, which featured a field blessing by Sister Joyce Mahany and brief speeches from President Dlugos and Brian Curtin, the Monks’ Director of Athletics. PHOTO GALLERY
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph’s struck early, as senior defender Emily DeLuca (Gorham, Maine) scored on a free kick, taken from outside the 18 on the left, with a shot just under the crossbar at the 8:22 mark.
The 1-0 edge remained until the 58th minute, when junior Haley DaGraca (Saco, Maine) netted her first of three strikes in a matter of 12 minutes off a Lauren Stiles (Gorham, Maine) pass. The junior standout scored again three minutes later, off a Colleen Sheehan (Medway, Mass.) feed, and capped the hat trick performance at the 69:46 mark with a tally off a perfect right-to-left cross through the box from sophomore Hannah Butler (Melrose, Mass.).
Freshman Brenna Smith (Maynard, Mass.) closed out the evening’s scoring with a nifty turnaround goal off a Lillian Bisset (Jefferson, Maine) pass at the 73:24 mark.
THE KEEPERS:
Saint Joseph’s senior Brooke Troup (East Bridgewater, Mass.) posted one save, a diving stop following a scrum in the box at the 42:04 mark, in 75:05 minutes before giving way to freshman Madi Day (Hiram, Maine), who was untested in 14:55 of relief work.
Southern Maine netminder Taylor Canastra (Fairhaven, Mass.) registered eight stops in the losing effort.
TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph’s held considerable advantages in shots (23-3) and shots on goal (13-1) with a 4-2 lead in corner kicks in the triumph.
The Monks, who defeated Anna Maria College by a 9-0 score on Saturday, have scored the most goals in consecutive games (14) since the team defeated Maine-Presque Isle, 13-0, and Mitchell College, 5-0, on October 29th and 30th, 2005.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph’s improves to 12-16-1 in the history of the series with Southern Maine. For the Monks, tonight’s winning margin is the largest ever recorded by St. Joe’s in the 29-game series while the team’s five-goal total is tied for the most scored by an SJC side versus the Huskies (1993, 1994).
NEXT!
Saint Joseph’s will host Norwich University Wednesday in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest starting at 6:30 PM.
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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.
